Festival of Suffolk torch relay to tour county in celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

A torch relay to celebrate all things Suffolk ahead of a much anticipated festival has been launched today.

The torch relay will tour over 250 of the county's main towns and villages in the lead up to the Festival of Suffolk and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

People are invited to nominate local heroes and members of the community to be torch-bearers alongside the Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Framlingham Rickshaw teams who will transport the torch and its bearers.

Mark Brennan, organiser for the torch relay said: "It's a combination of the BBC's Rickshaw challenge and the Olympic torch relay.

"We've created the route which starts off in Brandon on May 13 and follows a specific route all the way around the county to end up at the Suffolk Show on June 1.

"We're looking for people to nominate a local hero or someone in the community to carry the torch as they pass through that patch. For the most part, the torch-bearers will be riding on the rickshaw - that means it's accessible to all.

"It doesn't matter if people have limited mobility or if they're old or young, we just invite people to ride the rickshaw," he added.

The torch relay will take place over 20 days and will pass through Newmarket, Haverhill, Sudbury, Felixstowe as well as a host of other Suffolk towns, to reach its Ipswich destination having travelled over 550 miles.

David Fisher, Bury St Edmunds Rickshaw pilot said: "We were quite pleased and felt privileged to be asked.

"It's something I feel happy to take part in and our strapline is 'more smiles per miles'.

"Everyone who has a ride on the rickshaw always seem to enjoy themselves," he added.

Tim Holder, director of communication for the Festival of Suffolk said: "We felt that Suffolk more than ever needed to come out from its bunkers and start to recover from the pandemic and celebrate the wonderful county that we live in.

"We want to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee which is an incredible achievement, but we also want to celebrate everything that is great about the whole of Suffolk."

The Festival of Suffolk will take place across the county with events set to include, a book launch, a tree planting event, community games, Festival of the Sea and a business expo.

A lasting legacy will also be created as a Festival Fund of £5 million will be used to help charities, organisations, community groups and social enterprises.

Tim said: "The Festival has created a fund as Suffolk Community Foundation and there will be various fund-raising initiatives on throughout the festival.

"The festival wants to have an aim, not just to come and go, but to look at some of the serious issues people of Suffolk are facing such as isolation, mental health and wellbeing, people's physical strength and confidence.

"We went to create a legacy to continue the great work the festival will have started this year," he added.

To find out more information about the torch relay and the various events, see here.