Bury Folk Festival at Nowton Park returned over the weekend with fun for all the family

The eighth Bury Folk Festival returned over the weekend with a fun-packed day for all the family and plenty of live music for folk-lovers.

The festival was held in the walled garden of Nowton Park in Bury St Edmunds and attendees could explore a variety of market stalls, food vendors or even get up and perform themselves on the Greenstage.

Particular highlights for festival organiser, Tony Phillips, included watching children enjoying the junk orchestra - a collection of recycled materials turned into instruments - and the brilliantly hilarious folk band, Bold and Saucy Wrongs, who made Shakespeare's sonnets into a humorous song.

Tony, who has been helping to organise the festival for three years now, said: "It was great. Anything that is live post-Covid is always like a celebration.

"The idea that you're hearing some of the best music in the area in the sunshine in somewhere as beautiful as the walled garden is lovely. You can't get much better than that. It's always been a family friendly event."

Around 170 to 200 people came to support on Saturday and Tony is grateful to those who attended.

"I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who comes," he said. "We had a lot of new faces this year. It was particularly wonderful to hear people building up their confidence by actually performing."

The idea of spreading the festival across two days will be discussed by organisers, as well as addressing how to appeal to younger audiences and getting in ethnically diverse acts to perform.

Anyone with suggestions for next year or anyone who would like to volunteer to help out should contact organisers on the Bury Folk Festival Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.