At last Ipswich Borough Council was lucky with the weather for a major outdoor event after all the rain which caused problems earlier in the summer.

And the fine evening allowed the thousands of people at the park to enjoy some of the finest classical and crossover music on offer anywhere.

The Heart of England Philharmonic was paying its first visit to Ipswich, although the two vocalists Natasha Marsh and Nathan Pacheco had been here before.

They might be a relatively new name alongside some other great orchestras, but they each put in a great performance.

The audience might not have been as large as it was when Katherine Jenkins visited last year, but in many ways this was a more spectacular concert.

The choice of music was varied – from Bizet’s Carmen suite to the Queen classic Who Wants to Live Forever? – and delivered with great style.

Both Ms Marsh and Mr Pacheco are rising stars of the music world, and gave us superb performances – they’re both engaging personalities as well.

But for most of the audience what will stick long in the mind is the superb firework display that rounded off the concert.

We expected them at the finale to the 1812 Overture, but the organisers had also saved some for the encore – Eric Coates’ Dambusters March.

A great evening of entertainment, and the perfect warm-up to yesterday’s Music in the Park.