As we get set to welcome in the first ever Suffolk Day, we begin our celebrations with a snapshot of just some of the events lined up to celebrate our great county.
The first official day of celebration of our great county is tomorrow and the EADT and Ipswich Star are thrilled to have been part of the team launching the occasion.
It was inspired by the existing Yorkshire Day, and a huge number of events have planned to showcase everything we love about living, working and holidaying in Suffolk.
Terry Hunt, editor-in-chief of Archant Suffolk, said: “Suffolk Day is a brilliant idea – an opportunity for everyone to come together to celebrate everything that’s good about this wonderful county.
“We really do have so much to enjoy and to be grateful for. It is also particularly good to be able to focus on something so positive, at a time when the national news is dominated by terrible events elsewhere.”
Mark Murphy, BBC Radio Suffolk broadcaster and who also helped to launch Suffolk Day, said: “I’ve always been jealous of Yorkshire folk and how proud they are of where they come from. For 40 years they’ve been celebrating their county with Yorkshire day.
“We have so many great things in Suffolk but it’s the people that make a place and they have really embraced the day.”
Businesses, community groups and charities have thrown themselves behind Suffolk Day, many opening up on days they wouldn’t usually, with others taking time out of their schedules to create some products to celebrate all that we love about our county.
The Ipswich Transport Museum will be opening especially to celebrate the town’s history. It will have Ipswich Borough Council’s collection of horse drawn vehicles, the world’s oldest trolleybus and a 1903 Ipswich tramcar, to name just a few of the displays.
The Orwell Bridge will be the backdrop for a series of events running at the Suffolk Food Hall from 3pm-7pm. The Suffolk Land Rover Owners Club is running a series of 4x4 assault courses underneath the bridge, with activities also being run by the Suffolk Horse Society.
A special Suffolk Day tour is being held at Glemham Hall by owner Major Philip Hope-Cobbold. It will cover the building from the attics right down to the cellar and, of course, the beautiful gardens. The tour sets off at 2.30pm. It costs £12, and must be booked in advance by calling 01728 746704.
The Suffolk Punch Trust, normally closed in the week, is putting on a range of activities including ploughing demonstrations, braiding and tractor trail rides from 11am-4pm. Of course, Suffolk Punches will take pride of place.
Bells will ring across 15 locations in the county to mark the day, including Bury St Edmunds’ Norman Tower from 7.30pm to 8.30pm, as well as Bardwell and Long Melford – both from 7.30pm-9pm.
The Theatre Royal in Bury will celebrate all things Suffolk with There and Back Again – An Odyssey at Marina Theatre, Lowestoft , at 1.30pm and 4.30pm.
A mini-market will be held outside Sudbury Town Hall from 10am-3pm, with local businesses showcasing their produce, along with artists displaying their work.
The Heritage Centre at Long Melford will be open from 10am-4pm, displaying a vast collection of old photographs.
Nothing says Suffolk like our offering of fantastically flavoursome food.
Lynn and Steve Tricker, of Truly Traceable venison and game pies in Halesworth has made a bacon, Brie and redcurrant picnic pie to celebrate some of their favourite Suffolk producers, incorporating Blythburgh pork, Baron Bigod Bungay Brie from Fen Farm Dairy and redcurrants from High House Fruit Farm in Sudbourne.
Visitors to the Rose House Butchery in St Peter’s Street, Ipswich, will also be able to purchase a Suffolk Day speciality - handmade sausages flavoured with maple cured smoked bacon and Suffolk Aspalls cyder, made from Breckland pork.
Big Chinwag get-togethers are planned at Felixstowe’s Alex Café Bar, the Stables café and Avanti, Brightwell Barns, Ipswich Building Society, Saxmundham and Ipswich’s Sailmakers shopping centre, running for most of the day.
A Suffolk Day ‘sip and give’ initiative will be serving drinks for donations to Ipswich-based Talitha Koum (TK) at The Bell at Sax, in Saxmundham, and The Sail Loft, Southwold, from 10am-5pm.
BBC Radio Suffolk will be celebrating Suffolk by hosting a series of countywide broadcasts.
As Suffolk wakes up, Luke Deal will be live at the Newmarket gallops from 5am.
Mark Murphy will be hosting his flagship breakfast show on the sunrise coast in the UK’s most easterly town, Lowestoft.
James Hazell will be looking at how Suffolk the leads the way with technology and innovation at Adastral park.
Lesley Dolphin will be hosting her show between 1pm and 4pm live from the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket as it celebrates its 50th birthday. You can join her in person as in conjunction with the East of England Co-op she showcases local food and our rich heritage.
From 4pm Stephen Foster is live at the Apex in Bury St Edmunds. He’ll be highlighting the thriving theatre, music and entertainment scene we have to offer.
• How are you celebrating Suffolk Day? Send us your pictures, email newsroom@archant.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here