Woodbridge festival 2024

FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CARNIVAL OF COLOURS 16/17 MARCH

AND ELMHURST PARK EARLY BIRDS ON SALE HERE

As we announce the first dates of our 2024 programme, featuring Carnival of Colours and the first date of Richard Norris’ national book launch tour on 16 March, we thank you for an amazing 2023.

We held our biggest festival week yet in September and programmed a whole summer of celebrations for Windrush Day 75. For the first time we had two days in Elmhurst Park for the our annual flagship event. Acts included Jazzie B (Soul II Soul), Aswad, A Man Called Adam, host DJ Ben Osborne, Chris Co Co, Jimmy K-Tel (Sancho Panza), Caswell, Nathan X, Maella, Kevin Pearce, Gethin Itchy Soul, Bobby Bucys, Sid Le Sarge, our biggest art area to date, spoken word, eco zone, kids area and music events and art exhibitions across the town. As part of Windrush celebrations we also hosted four Suffolk Sound Systems, and Turner Prize nominated Soundystem B,O.S.S, at five events in Suffolk and London, plus the first public exhibition of Howard Gray’s lost Windrush photographs, John Ferguson’s Black Suffolk and the massively successful community art project, Anchors Aweigh.

We held a Winter Lights On Event projecting over 250 snow flakes created by local school children onto the Tide Mill on 10 December, two days of Fish Friendly Fireworks displays on the Tide Mill on 4 & 5 November with over 200 artworks submitted by Chelsea Arts Club, Woodbridge Arts Club, professional artists and members of the local community aged 6 months to 76 years old. We had a packed all-dayer for the Harvest Fair 2023 on Saturday 7 October, with live music and stalls in Whisstocks Place and all ages art workshops in a pop-up art school in the Long Shed, plus the Anchors Aweigh “skullduggery” art trail. Thank you to everyone that took part.

The festival is being supported by East Suffolk Council, DLUHC’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund scheme, Art’s Council England, DLUHC’s Windrush Day Grant 75 and Suffolk Town Council. We were finalists in 2023’s BBC Make A Difference Green Award and the 2023 East Suffolk Green Impact Award.

Over the last 10 years Woodbridge Festival has hosted acts from Canada, Czechia, France, Ghana, Italy, Norway, USA and more. Highlights have included headliners such as Jazzie B/ Soul II Soul, Orbital, Leee John (of Imagination/ Gorillaz and Small Axe), Mercury Prize jazz act Polar Bear, Coldcut, Mark Moore/ S Express, Horse Meat Disco DJs, Red Snapper, electronic pioneer David Vorhaus (White Noise) and UK hip hop pioneer Ty - to name a few. We’ve had themes, such as a focus on Scotland, Czech republic and France, Windrush Day 75 (2023), Woodbridge Ambient Music Event in 2016, Winter Light Art Festivals (2021, 2022, 2023), summer schools on the environment (2020), Beatles book launches (2015), Fish Friendly Fireworks, Rendlesham Incident UFO sculptures in the Library (2014) and turning the 700 year old Tide Mill into a techno instrument (2021).

Picture: Above - Jazzie B, Soul II Soul, back stage Elmhurst Park, WFAM 2021, by John Ferguson.

Woodbridge Festival
of art & music

Woodbridge Festival of ART & MUSIC is a community-run event that showcases ambitious, diverse and quality International line-ups, encouraging local talent and allowing emerging artists to share a platform with established national and international acts.

The festival is inclusive, accessible and sustainable, fun and alternative. It encourages creativity in the community and raises money for cultural education. We hold year round participatory cultural events and workshops and have supported equipment for six schools, music in health, music for the elderly and a choir for Alzheimer patients. We take environmental responsibilities seriously - avoiding using generators, operating a leave no trace policy, encouraging train travel for artists and audiences and having a dedicated EcoZone and educational activities at the festival.

:Events

Unmissable music & art in Woodbridge

In 2022 we celebrated our 10th year with our flagship Festival in Elmhurst Park (3 September), Boathouse and Whisstocks Square (4 September) and The Riverside (5 September) headlined by Martyn Ware (Human League/ Heaven 17), Chris Coco (Chill Out Tent), Justin Robertson (Hacienda/ Lion Rock) and many more. 2022 has been our busiest year, with a winter programme that took the festival on tour to Saxmundham, Felixstowe and Ipswich, our Tide Mill AV project (by DJ Ben Osborne) featuring on BBC Breakfast TV, and Jubilee events in Kingston Fields and Community Hall and Whisstocks Square on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 June attracting over 3,000 people. Throughout the pandemic we were amongst the first in the UK to safely present high quality live music and art; including Jazzie B - Soul II Soul, Aswad, Red Snapper, Leee John (of Imagination/ Gorillaz and Small Axe), Aruba Red, Noisy Pots, Bratri and Aiko, Faze Action, Flying Mojito Bros, Rocky - Xpress 2, Les Spaine, Richard Norris (The Grid/ Jack the Tab), host DJ Ben Osborne, Cleo Gould and Jonathan Morton, Kevin Pearce, Wooden Tops, Peter Hepworth, Charlie Law, spoken word poets Kirsty Allison and H E Ross and many, many more!

:Eco Zone

Activities, fun and ideas

Running a sustainable event is central to what we're trying to achieve and eco activities have always been a huge part of the festival. We've co-created exciting live and online activities and events, including our Incredible Oceans Live, Forest School and Eco Toy Workshops in Summer Schools, online, in school classes and dedicated eco days.

 :News

We're delighted to announce

Check in here for news from the festival’s year round programme of events

Woodbridge Festival of Art and Music’s annual flagship event takes place in Elmhurst Park and venues across town on the last week of August/ first weekend of September.

We also do live music and DJ events, art exhibitions, work shops led by practicing artists/ creatives, literature events and other activities in the region throughout the year.

Woodbridge Festival of Art and Music is not-for-profit and supports local culture, venues, education and community projects.

We're extremely grateful to The Arts Council and the National Lottery funded Let's Create initiative, Suffolk County Council, East Suffolk Council, Woodbridge Town Council, Dedham Vale AONB/Suffolk Coast and Heaths' AONB's Sustainable Development Fund, The Co-Op, Ipswich Borough Council, HM Government DLUHC Windrush Day Grant Scheme and UK Shared Prosperity Fund in East Suffolk, and the people of Woodbridge for generously supporting our mission to promote culture and creativity in our area and to promote sustainability.