Whitsun Fayre set to attract visitors to the town this weekend

Visitors are expected to flock to Bury St Edmunds town centre this weekend as the first of the Our Bury St Edmunds summer season of events takes place. 

And the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation has announced that this summer its free admission events will all be supporting the popular charity East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA).

The Our Bury St Edmunds Whitsun Fayre on Sunday, May 29, offers a fun day out with crafts, plants, street food and artisan produce on sale alongside family entertainment.  It will build on the success of the post-pandemic return of the event last year.

For the event many of the attractions will be in the area usually used by the twice-weekly market but an additional flowers, crafts and artisan produce market will be held on Angel Hill. 

It will also feature fairground rides as well as local astronomers providing games and entertainment for youngsters while also giving advice about telescopes and viewing the night sky. Street entertainment will include a magician/balloon modeller and a stilt walker. 

Our Bury St Edmunds marketing officer Mike Kirkham said: “We have been delighted at the number of stall-holders who want to take part this year – especially given that it’s a very busy week with all the events leading up to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday the following weekend. It really does offer something for everyone and will be a great launch for everything else we have planned including our Motorsport East day in July and the two-day Our Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival over the August Bank Holiday.”

The BID’s events will support EAAA, which exists to save lives by delivering highly skilled doctors and critical care paramedics by air or car to seriously ill or injured people across East Anglia. The charity has two helicopters and four rapid response vehicles, which are located at bases in Norwich and Cambridge. EAAA was the first air ambulance in the country to attend helicopter emergency medical incidents in the hours of darkness and is the only air ambulance in the East of England to fly 24/7. EAAA is a life-saving charity that is only kept airborne thanks to its generous supporters.

Mark Wilson, community fundraising officer for EAAA, said: “We are so grateful that Our Bury St Edmunds has chosen to support EAAA at its summer events this year. Each mission we attend costs £3,500 so this provides us with a fabulous fundraising opportunity. Come and meet our fantastic volunteers and find out more about our life saving service; how you can become a volunteer or if you can, make a small donation to help keep our crews flying because ‘Together we save lives’.” 

The Our Bury St Edmunds Whitsun Fayre is a free-admission event which takes place between 10am and 4pm. For more information visit www.ourburystedmunds.com