Local tourism forum chair Helen Matthews said it is turning out to be the hottest arts festival in Europe: "It was absolutely brilliant with twice as many community and freelance acts as last year. It's really proving to be an inspiration for a lot of people and I think the festival will continue to grow."

One new attraction this year was described as offering a 'magical, almost spiritual' experience for visitors, as Helen explained: "The sand labyrinth created by artist Linda King on the beach to mark the autumn equinox was lit up by candles and hundreds of visitors were able to walk through it."

Other attractions included comical weight lifters, eerie puppet shows, local artist's exhibitions, beach hut contests, live music and fireworks.

But behind the merriment however, was disappointment over the European continental market – with some stalls being disallowed this year by East Lindsey District Council.

A spokesman for ELDC explained the situation: "We actively support complimentary markets that encourage new events and bring something unique to the area. In this case, concerns raised by local traders after the 2007 festival had been ignored by the organisers.

"Despite engaging with the organisers from and early stage they chose not to address these issues nor take into consideration concerns raised by local traders. For this reason we did not feel able to fully support this event."

Out of the nine stall planned for the market, Helen said five were unable to operate, with two marketers arriving from France and not being able to trade.

Helen said: "Some of the traders have now said they will not be returning to Mablethorpe – it's so disappointing."

She added: "The market added ambiance and colour to the festival and was sorely missed this year. It was a rare chance for the community to enjoy diversity and culture through food, and it was an incredible shame it couldn't be there this year."

* What did you think to the bathing beauties festival? Email gemma.gadd@jpress.co.uk