Be Free in 2023 this Suffolk Day

Tomorrow the sun will rise first at the UK’s most easterly point, Ness Point in Lowestoft, as we celebrate the longest day of the year. After the long months of winter, it is a welcome annual milestone.

It also happens to be Suffolk Day.

Since the inaugural Suffolk Day in 2016, I always look forward to June 21^st because it is an opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate what is great about our county. A favourite for me – amongst many other things – is Suffolk big open skies.

This year’s theme is Be Free in 2023 and we are encouraging people to enjoy what Suffolk has to offer, whether that’s visiting an attraction or simply going for a walk through our beautiful towns, villages, and landscapes. Much of Suffolk can be enjoyed for free or give you a sense of making you feel free. We sometimes forgot how easy it is to make the most of what we have on our doorsteps.

The Suffolk Day proclamation will be read on the steps of Ipswich Town Hall tomorrow and will talk about what it is to be free in 2023. This means freedom to be unique and embrace diversity and be proud of our individual cultures. Also, the freedom to be safe and give freedom to others, a message that is even more important during refugee week.

The Suffolk Day celebrations in Ipswich will start with an early morning parade by 4 Army Air Corps who will exercise its Freedom of the Borough, marching from Carr Street to the Cornhill ahead of an inspection by the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, Clare Countess of Euston.

Year 9 and 10 students from Chantry Academy in Ipswich, who have compiled this year’s proclamation on behalf of the Lord Lieutenant, will read the message of freedom, opportunity and optimism.

Suffolk Community Foundation will present the Suffolk Medal to this year’s two recipients, who join an exclusive list of those who have been honoured for making a fundamental and lasting difference to the county.

This will be followed by an Apache Helicopter flypast and then everyone will then be invited to sing the National Anthem, with salutes completing formalities.

I plan to spend my day celebrating the best of Suffolk’s food and drink and will be visiting producers across Suffolk, including Beccles, Bungay and Ashbocking. I’m also planning a visit to the Food Museum in Stowmarket to view their new Meat the Future exhibition and a visit to a therapy farm in Thurston to find out more about their caring ethos.

Hopefully along the way I’ll get to try some of the rich flavours of Suffolk’s harvests, and the farm-to-table produce that our county’s farmers can be so proud of. We are very fortunate to have such an array of world-class food and drink producers across the county.

The Suffolk flag will be proudly flying at Endeavour House, and I hope you have a great Suffolk Day however you choose to celebrate.