Over 5,000 people flocked to the Port of Tilbury for its annual Community Day launched on the same day as new arts festival Estuary 2016.
People came to the port from as far afield as Bath, Suffolk and Birmingham, including a 99-year-old former port worker who remembered the port as a young man.
Hundreds took free Thames Clipper boat rides up the river whilst others headed out an open top vintage bus for a special Port guided tour.
COO Perry Glading said: “A key focus for the Port of Tilbury was to offer our younger community the chance to see some of the heavy plant machinery, put on mini high vis vests and port passes and find out what goes on in the port.
“This is our future workforce so it was great to be able to show them round and offer them Port of Tilbury cakes made by our very own port Police officer.
“Alongside our community activity, Estuary 2016 was a spectacle in itself with art exhibitions on boats, music that was played to the rhythm of the tide and atmospheric films that were shown in the railway station and on the dockside.”
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