Portsmouth hosted the first Meet Your Navy event between 25th and 27th July 2008. The event has taken over from the old Navy Days. Areas of the dockyard that were normally closed to the public were open enabling the public to meet the crews of modern naval ships and to explore the dockyard.

The dockyard was split into past, present and future zones. There were many different displays including the Royal Marines Band Beating Retreat, a field gun display, helicopter displays, the Red Arrows and much more. The event proved a huge success.

The event included naval ships from around the world including ships from Brazil, Russia, Japan, Chile, Denmark and France. In addition many UK Naval ships were there including HMS Illustrious, HMS Argyil, HMS Richmond, and HMS Hurworth.

Around 35,000 people flocked to the three day event. To get a real flavour of the event have a look at the video link below or the photo gallery link. In 2009 Portsmouth Historic Dockyard hosted Royal Navy Past and Present.