Across the country plans are being put in place to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and Suffolk is no exception.

One of the county's towns, Stowmarket, has got in ahead of the curve, and the town council and carnival committee are excited to announce a joint event to celebrate her majesty spending 70 years on the throne.

The Stowmarket jubilee extravaganza will take place on the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend, over June 2-3, and will combine Stowmarket Carnival and StowFiesta — the town's annual free music event held at Chilton Fields.

Due to the impact of the pandemic it was not possible for the carnival to run in 2020 or 2021, but after a two-year hiatus the carnival committee is very excited to be working on 2022's event.

The procession for what will be the town's 59th carnival will follow the traditional route from Meadlands but finish near Chilton Fields to complement Stowfiesta.

Stowfiesta, which was able to take place this year, has been running since 2007 when it was started under the name of Stowfest.

David Marsh, Stowmarket Town Council's events and theatre manager, said: “We're really excited to be working with the Stowmarket Carnival Committee as they organise the procession to mark the beginning of the jubilee celebrations in Stowmarket.

"We continue our successful partnership with the Stowmarket Rugby Club to bring our biggest-ever two-day music and family entertainment event to Stowmarket's Chilton Fields”.

Simon Burton, Stowmarket Carnival chairman, added: “It is brilliant that we have been able to work with Stowmarket Town Council to tie the carnival into StowFiesta and we are working hard to plan for the Jubilee Carnival procession and find sponsors and funding so that we can keep this wonderful tradition going in our lovely town.

"We will have more details of what’s planned and how to get involved in the new year.”