THE countdown to this year’s Suffolk FA Grassroots Festival is on.

The two-day festival, which is taking place outside of Ipswich for the first time, is only a fortnight away.

The event is being held at Eastward Ho! On Saturday and Sunday May 18th and 19th 2024 and is being organised in partnership with Felixstowe & Walton United and East Suffolk Council.

This year’s festival is being supported by East Suffolk Councillors through their Enabling Communities Budget. They are Cllr Mark Jepson, Cllr Michael Deacon, Cllr Jan Candy (and cabinet member for Community Health), Cllr Rosie Smithson, Cllr Amanda Folley, Cllr Seamus Bennett, Cllr Lee Reeves and Cllr Mike Ninnmey.

In a joint statement, the East Suffolk councillors said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Grassroots Festival through our Enabling Communities Budgets, which are allocated to projects which directly benefit our local residents.

“The festival enables children of all ages to develop their love of football and stay active and we are delighted to have this popular event in Felixstowe this year.”

Suffolk County Councillor Stuart Bird is also supporting the festival through his locality budget. All the councillors have equally contributed to the overall costs of running this year’s festival.  

James Morley, Suffolk FA Development Officer and festival organiser said: “We are very happy to be working with all of the councillors for this year’s Grassroots Festival.

“We are appreciative of their support and enthusiasm for the Grassroots Festival which is annually a celebration of local football and look forward to showing them how football can support the local area.

“We are getting closer every day to the festival and the preparations are in full swing to try and make this the best event we can. We are welcoming teams from across Suffolk to Felixstowe and hope they enjoy their day on the coast.”

Pictured (left to right) are Suffolk FA Chief Executive Richard Neal, Cllr Mark Jepson, Cllr Rosie Smithson, Cllr Mike Deacon, Cllr Stuart Bird, Cllr Jan Candy, Cllr Seamus Bennett, Cllr Mike Ninnmey, Cllr Lee Reeves, Suffolk FA Football Development Officer James Morley and Felixstowe & Walton United FC Junior Chair Scott Dunne. Missing from photograph: Cllr Amanda Folley.