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Armed Forces Day

On Saturday 30 June, Suffolk Armed Forces Day will be held in the beautiful and historic setting of the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds.

Armed Forces Day is a national event which takes place on the last Saturday in June. A chance to show support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from currently serving troops to Service families, veterans and cadets. Armed Forces Day celebrations begin on Monday 25 June when the Armed Forces Day flag is raised on buildings and famous landmarks around the country.

The Suffolk celebrations, which this year will be held in the Abbey Garden’s between 11am and 4pm, will be a free family fun day of activities with storytelling, military vehicles, arts and crafts, funfair rides, climbing wall, face painting and refreshments, including performances from the Haverhill Silver Band and Bury St Edmunds Concert Band.

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There will be military re-enactments from Anglo Saxon times to WWII, historical exhibitions including the Norwich & Norfolk Medieval Association, the 95th Rifles Living History Society and the Suffolk Regiment Living History Society.

The day will also include a special low-level flypast by a World War II Hurricane fighter. Alongside the Spitfire, the Hurricane was the workhorse flown by those brave RAF pilots, who Churchill nicknamed ‘The Few’ during the Battle of Britain.

Ahead of this celebratory day British and American servicemen and women will take part in a parade on Angel Hill in Bury St Edmunds. The Sunset Ceremony, a traditional parade to signal the end of the day and the mounting of an overnight guard, will start at 6.25pm on Thursday 28 June, building towards a flypast by 3 Regt AAC’s Apache attack helicopters as the Union Flag is lowered, with music from the RAF Honington Voluntary Band.

St Edmundsbury Borough Councillor Robert Everitt, Portfolio Holder responsible for the Armed Forces Covenant, said: “The Armed Forces hold a special place in the hearts of our residents and West Suffolk has been chosen this year to host the County celebrations for Armed Forces Day. From the sunset parade on Thursday to the free event at the Abbey Gardens on Saturday and the ticketed concert that evening there will be something for all the family that will not only be entertaining and informative but moving as well. I hope everyone will join me in supporting these events and our forces and their families.”

Suffolk Armed Forces Day will be held at the Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds from 11am – 4pm and entry is free. The event will be opened at 10.50am in the Abbey Gardens by the Mayor of St Edmundsbury and the Suffolk Armed Forces Commissioner.

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