Organisers of a popular fayre in Bury St Edmunds have welcomed the latest government announcement on lockdown easing as it will allow more people to enjoy the event.

The lifting of restrictions means more hospitality venues will be able to open to serve customers coming into the town for the Our Bury St Edmunds Whitsun Fayre.

The free annual two-day fayre, which will be a market-style event this year for safety reasons, will take place on Sunday, May 30 and Monday, May 31, between 10am and 4pm.

Last year's event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic and organisers have not included some of the usual elements for the 2021 fayre to ensure it is Covid-safe.

East Anglian Daily Times: Mark Cordell, Our Bury St Edmunds chief executive.Mark Cordell, Our Bury St Edmunds chief executive. (Image: Archant)

Mark Cordell, Our Bury St Edmunds chief executive, said: “We are delighted that the government has given the go-ahead for hospitality businesses to re-open and allow customers to be served indoors as this will enable people to make more of their visit to the Whitsun Fayre by combining it with lunch at a favourite café, pub or restaurant.

“For the event itself we have reviewed all the Covid safety aspects and followed West Suffolk Council’s model for their very successful twice-weekly market for the Whitsun Fayre.

"It’s disappointing of course that we won’t be able to offer some of the other attractions such as the mini-farm and the urban beach that have been part of the fayre in recent years but we hope to bring these back to the town centre in the future.

"I know that people visiting would rather be reassured about the safety of the day out above everything else, hence we have taken a phased approach to bringing our attractions back.”

For more information, visit the Our Bury St Edmunds website.