The festival will mirror many aspects of the national celebrations already planned for next year, and already in Suffolk over 60 organisations are offering support and practical ideas to help shine a spotlight on our county. The festival team is engaging with residents, community and business leaders, voluntary organisations and charities, local authorities and with health and education providers, tourism bodies, faith groups, youth organisations, the military and the emergency services. All are being invited to get in touch with ideas about how the festival can help showcase Suffolk as one of the best places in Britain to live, work, visit and learn.
What you can expect from The Festival of Suffolk...
Queen’s Green Canopy – planting of 770,000 tress and hedgerows in Suffolk, one for every resident
Business Expo to celebrate entrepreneurship, innovation and business excellence in Suffolk
Festival of the Sea to celebrate our marine heritage, beautiful coastline, fishing industry, the Royal Navy, the RNLI, our ports, boatbuilding and marine leisure industry
Festival Youth Games to revive the popular county games and celebrate talent and achievement among young people
Jubilee Beacon Lighting across the county as The Queen lights the first beacon in London
Community Big Lunches to link with the Jubilee Big Lunch being planned in The Mall in London
Suffolk Garland for The Queen – a special commemorative book to be published with contributions from over 70 international and national contributors, all celebrating aspects of Suffolk life and heritage. The first copy will be presented to The Queen
It’s also about leaving an enduring legacy, and focussing festival activities and fundraising on addressing some of the big challenges facing our county that were addressed in the recent Hidden Needs Report published by the Suffolk Community Foundation and the University of Suffolk. These include the need to tackle isolation, deprivation, lack of
opportunity and aspiration, made all the more acute because of the Covid pandemic. So there will be a big focus on recovery and recharging our voluntary organisations so that we can be even stronger together.
The big themes will be health and wellbeing, opportunity and education, enterprise, environment and culture and tourism.
The amazing networks and organisations in all parts of Suffolk are now invited to share our ambition, as well as our determination to make a difference, and to roll up our collective sleeves to deliver the biggest ever and most exciting community event in Suffolk
Over 60 partners are already involved, including The Queen’s Green Canopy in Suffolk, Suffolk Community Foundation, Community Action Suffolk, the Diocese of Suffolk, Dance East, Ipswich Borough Counhcil, New Anglia LEP, Newmarket Racecourse, BT, Ipswich Town Football Club, Suffolk Agricultural Association, Greenlight Trust, Suffolk Police, Royal British Legion, Birketts, the Archant Group, Suffolk MPs, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce and the University of Suffolk.
The festival team continue to deliver an outreach programme to engage as many communities as possible with the ambitions of the festival and encourage active involvement in its creation.
To find out more, watch the video and get in touch using the button below.