THOUSANDS of people are expected to descend on Ringwood at the weekend as the annual festival gets started in Southampton Road on Saturday.

The event, which is now in its 13th year, is set to be the biggest and best yet with a Pedal Car Grand Prix starting in the Market Place on Sunday.

Charities are set to benefit from an estimated £10,000 hoped to be raised from sponsors of Sunday's pedal power spectacle, with 54 confirmed teams lining up on the starting grid in at 2pm.

As a prelude to the grand prix, the concourse d’elegance to judge the best looking pedal car will take place on Saturday at 10.30am.

On Saturday Forest Forge Street Theatre will present On the Beach outside Co-operative Travel at 10am.

The crowning of the carnival princesses will start at 11.30am before the Dragons of Wye-Ten perform a puppet show.

In the afternoon the KK Band will play, while charities run their stalls throughout the town, the Wye-Ten puppets go on a walkabout and the Shake Dancers boogie for the crowds.

Salisbury Sinfonia will perform a classical concert at the parish church at 7.30pm.

Race director Jim Stride said he is confident of smashing the impressive total raised from the last race.

“We raised over £12,000 in 2008, which is impressive, but this year we’re hoping to double that.

“Everyone in the town seems to have caught pedal car fever so we’re confident of giving this year’s charities a real boost,” he said.

Help For Heroes, the Tenovus cancer charity and Wave 105’s Cash For Kids will all benefit from the money raised from this year’s event.

And an extended 1.4km circuit will guarantee more action for the 10,000 people expected to flood the town centre.