Summer Festivals on the Suffolk Coast

Visitors and locals alike will all know the most famous of Suffolk Coast festivals – Latitude. A wonderful weekend of music, comedy, theatre and poetry, the family-friendly festival is one of my all time favourites. However, the Suffolk Coast offers many other fantastic festivals that are well worth being penciled into the diary.

From The Big Gig in Halesworth, full of local talent and community spirit, to the Flavours Food & Drink Festival with cookery demonstrations and samples, take a look at our alternative festival list for this summer:

1. Summer Beer Festival – 2nd & 3rd May – The Ship at Dunwich

What better way to start a summer full of fantastic festivals than with a real ale weekend at a local pub? Hosting live music, craft stalls, a huge variety of local ales, and of course the pub’s famous fish and chips, head down to The Ship this bank holiday and sample beers from Adnams, Green Jack, Grain, Cliff Quay, Humpty Dumpty, Earl Soham and more.

2. Woodbridge Drama Festival – 25th to 30th May- Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge

The very first Woodbridge Drama Festival will see a week of full length plays with each performance adjudicated and marked before an awards ceremony at the end of the festival. Join them at 7:30pm each night and earn your right to vote on the Audience Award.

3. Flavours Summer Food & Drink Festival – 6th & 7th June – Henham Park

A festival not to be missed by those passionate foodies amongst you, we attended last year and had a brilliant time watching professional chefs take to the stage to whip up culinary masterpieces and came away with loads of local products. With live music, plenty of stalls with samples to taste and activities to keep the kids entertained, you’ll have a plateful of fun at the Flavours Summer Food & Drink Festival.

4. Aldeburgh Festival – 12th to 28th June – Various Venues, Aldeburgh/Snape

Now in its 68th year, the Aldeburgh Festival celebrates music and arts with a mix of concerts, operas, masterclasses, films and open air performances in different, and beautiful, venues throughout Aldeburgh and Snape. There’s so many performances happening we definitely recommend you check out the website for more details. 

5. The Halesworth Big Gig – 31st July to 2nd August – Halesworth Town Park

We all mourned the loss of Gig In The Park back in 2012, a much-loved community music festival which had seen big name acts including Fun Lovin’ Criminals and The Buzzcocks, as well as Ed Sheeran at the beginning of his career. So, when The Big Gig was announced in 2014, the return of the party in the park was rejoiced by many. Back for its second year in the town park, the Lee Vasey Band will headline on the Sunday. Always supporting young, local artists, you can always guarantee a good time (and that you’ll bump into everyone you’ve ever met) at The Big Gig. 

6. Maui Waui Festival – 4th to 6th September – Peakhill Farm, Theberton

Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce it correctly, I’m still struggling after three years (and once there, a few beers), this festival describes its genre as ‘Electro Swing.’ The first acts to be announced for Maui Waui 2015 are Mydy Rabycad, Swing Growers and Gypsy Hill. Expect electro swing, reggae, country, dance, cabaret, fire shows and camping available on site.

So get out there and See Suffolk!