News

The Kent Big Day Out 2009, with thousands of free tickets to top tourist attractions being given away to county residents, is being held on Saturday, March 28.

This is the third year the event has been held in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics as part of a campaign celebrating Kent and Medway's wide variety of visitor attractions and destinations.

Last year Visit Kent at Kent County Council worked with attractions, including castles, historic houses and gardens, steam trains and sports centres, to make more than 16,000 Big Day Out free tickets available for Kent and Medway people.

And this year the celebration of the county's tourism and hospitality sector, and the contribution it makes to the local economy, will be even bigger. More cultural and sporting venues will be joining the ranks of destinations opening their doors to Kent Big Day Out ticket holders.

The free tickets will be available from the Visit Kent website , and through the county's visitor information centres from Tuesday, March 3.

Last year the Visit Kent website had a record 16,483 hits on the tickets' launch day - a record number for one day.

"The feedback we had from attractions and visitors for our 2008 Kent Big Day Out event was excellent," said Fran Warrington, head of Visit Kent at Kent County Council.