13 things to do in the county for FREE on Suffolk Day

In honour of the theme of this year’s Suffolk Day, ‘Be Free in 23’, here are some of the events and spectacular icons from around the county that you can enjoy for free. 

Arrive at the Ipswich Cornhill in plenty of time this morning, and you can have a front row seat to proceedings, including a military parade, a grand ceremony honouring the two recipients of the Suffolk Medal, and a flypast featuring Apache Helicopters. 

Meanwhile in Bury St Edmunds, the town centre will come alive with music. ‘Our Bury St Edmunds’ has teamed up with the organisers of Make Music Day, an international event which takes place around the world on June 21. 

Chief executive of Our Bury St Edmunds, Mark Cordell, said that the fact the festival coincided with Suffolk Day was ‘a happy coincidence’. 

“Bury St Edmunds is a hot spot for musical talent,” he said. “The town has a long-established reputation for music.” 

Charter Square outside the arc Shopping Centre in Bury St Edmunds will come alive with music on Wednesday. Image: CBRE (Image: CBRE)

Bury St Edmunds is said to be bursting with musical talent. Image: CBRE (Image: CBRE)

Musicians have been invited to play in the market area and in Charter Square from 10:30am until 4:30pm on Suffolk Day. 

The artists to listen out for include jazz quartet the Sax Pistols, Norwich teenager and singer-songwriter Ronan Williams, and Mark Henshaw playing the spoons. 

Meanwhile, primary school children from around the county will today be enroute to Trinity Park in Ipswich, ready to take part in the county council’s Whole Class Ensemble Teaching festival. 

These are a series of free events which schools have been invited to sign up to, which will give budding trumpeters, flautists, saxophonists and plenty more besides the chance to play together as an orchestra for perhaps the very first time. 

Students will spend the morning preparing their pieces and have the opportunity to perform for family and friends in the afternoon.  

Ten events in total will be taking place around the county over the next two weeks, including in Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft. 

Students from primary schools all over Suffolk, including Trimley St Martin, Dale Hall and Risby CEVC Primary School have been taking part in the festival. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

The festival gives children the chance to play together as part of an orchestra. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Budding trumpeters, singers, flautists and many more besides have been taking part in the festival. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

These events are a fantastic opportunity for budding musicians. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Meanwhile in Martlesham, Suffolk Constabulary is marking the day by opening a museum for the public to explore. 

Guests and visitors can find themselves quite literally walking through the history of policing in Suffolk, with artifacts and photographs documenting important aspects of policing from as early as the 19th Century. 

Both children and adults will be able to view important historic artifacts, such as the cudgel that was used by John Ducker to murder Police Constable Ebenezer Tye at Halesworth in 1862.  Ducker was publicly hanged at Ipswich in 1863 for this crime, the last public hanging in Suffolk. To book a slot, contact: museum@suffolk.police.uk  

The new museum gives people the chance to travel back in time, and look at policing from years gone by. Image: Suffolk Police (Image: Suffolk Police)

Suffolk Police museum volunteer, Eric Hopes, preparing for the museum's opening. Image: Suffolk Police (Image: Suffolk Police)

Meanwhile in Felixstowe, the day coincides with a time at which many people from the community will be coming together to celebrate the lives of those they have loved and lost. 

Suffolk Remembers will take place from 9pm to 10pm at Felixstowe Seafront Gardens, with people invited to dedicate a candle to those who are no longer with us. 

Catherine Sheppard, Supporter Campaigns Fundraiser at St Elizabeth Hospice, said: “We look forward to welcoming one and all to Suffolk Remembers this year, on the beautiful Felixstowe seafront as is now tradition, where we will celebrate the lives of our loved ones who helped make Suffolk the wonderful county we know and love.” 

Families finding the names of loved ones on the dedication candles at Suffolk Remembers 2021. Image: Nick Butcher Photography (Image: Nick Butcher Photography)

Felixstowe will once again light up in a celebration of life. Image: Nick Butcher Photography (Image: Nick Butcher Photography)

There are also plenty of iconic sights around the county which are well worth a revisit. 

In Aldeburgh, Maggi Hambling’s Scallop sculpture still stands proudly on the seafront. Hambling created this work in 2003, in tribute to Benjamin Britten and his opera Peter Grimes, a favourite of Hambling’s. 

Maggi Hambling's Scallop sculpture on Aldeburgh beach. Image: Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

If you are seeking somewhere cool and shady to spend the day, the Abbey Gardens in the heart of Bury St Edmunds.  

The 14-acres of gardens are on the site of the former Benedictine Abbey, the Abbey of St Edmund. This was once one of the richest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England, with people travelling from all over the country to visit the shrine of St Edmund.  

Many flocked to the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds during the summer months last year. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Martha and Annie enjoy a picnic in the Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

It has been said by many that our wide, open skies are the jewel in Suffolk’s crown. With that in mind, why not visit the House in the Clouds in Thorpeness? When the water tower was first built, it presented a unique challenge as to how to protect the beauty of the Thorpeness skyline - until architects arrived at this unique disguise. 

Down on the ground, the Crooked House in Lavenham is also well worth a visit. 

Built in 1395 as part of a grand house for a wealthy wool merchant, The Crooked House is said to be the inspiration for the old English nursery rhyme, ‘There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile’. 

The Crooked House is said to be the inspiration for an old English nursery rhyme. Image: Charlotte Bond (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Back in the east of the county, the Orwell Bridge is said to be one of the most iconic sights in the Suffolk skyline. Spectacular views of the bridge are to be found by those walking along the banks of the river Orwell. 

The Orwell Bridge is said to be one of the most iconic sites to be found in Suffolk. Image: Getty Images/iStockphotos (Image: Getty Images/iStockphotos)

However, nothing can top a stroll along the Felixstowe prom, with the north sea stretching out as far as the eye can see on one side, and the brightly coloured beach huts – said to be some of the oldest in the country – on the other. 

The beaches at Felixstowe draw hundreds from around the country each year, in search of a cool dip in the sea during the summer months. Image: Sarah Lucy Brown (Image: Sarah Lucy Brown)