Vessels decked out in flags and bunting gathered off the Suffolk coast on Saturday for a special parade in honour of the Queen’s platinum jubilee.
A flotilla of 80 boats, including five from as far afield as Great Yarmouth, assembled between Shotley and Harwich for the Festival of the Sea, which is part of the celebrations for the jubilee and the Festival of Suffolk.
Other crafts came from Suffolk and Essex, including Ipswich, Burnham, Tollesbury and Aldeburgh.
Hundreds of people lined the shore to watch at Landguard Fort in Felixstowe and the Ha’penny Pier in Harwich as a cannon was fired to launch the flotilla at the pier.
The parade was designed to represent every year of the Queen’s reign and featured representation from the Royal Navy, Trinity House in Harwich, Harwich Haven Authority, Essex Marine Police and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
Claire Scott, parade officer for the jubilee parade, said: “It went really well. Although we had some rain, it could have been much worse.”
The Lord Lieutenant of Essex Jennifer Tolhurst and the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, Lady Clare, Countess of Euston, also attended the festival.
As part of the celebrations, Landguard Fort and Felixstowe Museum also held a weekend of pirate activities featuring re-enactments, musket firing and pirate fun.
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