Fish friendly fireworks

FFF 2024 returns on Saturday 9 November and the open call for artworks has attracted over 350 artworks to be projected on our iconic Woodbridge Tide Mill

Thank you for a great 2024 festival weekend

Woodbridge Festival of Art and Music's flagship weekend returned IN 2024 with a pre-party followed by three days of events in Elmhurst Park, Whisstock’s Place, The Riverside, Bell and Steelyard, Red Lion and various venues around town 30 August - 1 September..

Woodbridge Festival celebrated its twelfth year with a bumper line-up of acts and a new festival theme that saw famous artists showcase talents they’re less known for. TV presenters to launched albums, best selling authors to performed live music, TV stars DJayed and DJs to revealed artworks. The Festival returned to Elmhurst Park for a tenth year, and to The Riverside, its long term venue for ‘club night’ events, for the first time since the pandemic.

The festival weekend opened with Les Spaine, a pioneer of club DJing, former head of Motown Records in the UK and considered the godfather of UK funk DJs. Les has worked with everyone from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to David Bowie. Best selling author Louis de Bernieres, whose book Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was made into a hit film, mada a rare appearance wearing his singer-songwriter hat, performing songs from his new LP. Live electronic duo Sons of Slough are one of the pioneering fully live electronic acts that, along with acts such as Orbital, helped shape the sound of dance music in the Nineties. They made one of only two UK festival appearances this year.

TV and Radio presenter Katie Puckrik (The Word, BBC6Music) launched her new compilation album ‘Yacht Rock Odyssey’. TV and film actor Ben Miles (Huge Disco) played a DJ set , Dave Jarvis, of London’s notorious Faith parties and fanzine, and Simon Lee, of Faze Action, as did Justin Robertson, a founding father of modern clubbing as a regular Haceinda resident and the DJ who inspired the Chemical Brothers to make dance music. He also exhibited his abstract paintings alongside DJ and Mi Soul presenter Abi Clark, aka Super Natural Thing. The Heavenly Social’s Carl Gosling, aka Heavenly Jukebox, & Sophie DJayed, ICR favourite Daddy Turbo unleashed his trademark b-lines, with Transient radio head boy, Bobby Bucys, and North London’s Itchy Soul crew and everybody’s favourite purveyor of seven inch DJ sets, Sid Le Sarge.

The wider events scheduled over the festival weekend include Arts Area with workshops, weaving, art trails, make and do, the Kids Zone, Eco Zone, Wellness Area, with massage, herbal medicines and treatments, Literary Area, Drum Workshops and the Food Village featuring Delroy’s Caribbean Grill, Korean Kitchen, Saltpeter, Pizza, high quality, local sourced street food and bars with ales, lagers, craft beers, wines, spirits, cocktails and ice creams.

The popular all ages Make & Do sessions return with activities print a one-of-a-kind festival souvenir, badge making, clay monsters (and fairies), recycled crafts and more, led by cross platform artist Alice Stallard and textiles artist Claire Hardaker. Enjoy Family Yoga with Emmakyoga, Glitter Tattoos with Abbie, GIANT games with 5th Woodbridge Sea Scouts and take time to chill in the Family Read and Chill zone with story time sponsored by Suffolk Building Society. Look out for the Choose Love heart trail around the festival site and take your insta selfies surrounded by love…. Discover more about local community initiatives and doodle your eco message to the world.

This year’s Wellness area includes plants from Katie’s garden, free massages, practical exhibitions on subjects such as how to make Kombucha, Yoga and Qi gong classes, meet the practitioner - your questions answered sessions, Complimentary Chinese herbal tea to sample and herbal tincture medicines for sale  - Arnica, Calendula, Echinacea, etc.

The festival has been supported by public bodies and private enterprises, these include Mediterranean Shipping Company, Suffolk Building Society, East Suffolk Council, Woodbridge Town Council, Suffolk Digital, Grove Court and The Natural Health Centre. Tickets on sale now - see www.woodbridgefestival.com

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

As well as our annual flagship festival week in the last week of August to first weekend of September, we hold regular monthly DJ and music events, creative and eco education outreach programmes working with the community, local schools and organisations and hold a series of audio-visual events, projecting over 1000 contributions from the local population, professional artists and Woodbridge and Chelsea Arts Club onto the hitoric Tide Mill.

: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.