Festival of Suffolk’s Newmarket Family Race Day
A huge celebration of the Festival of Suffolk and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be held on a special Family Race Day at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile on Saturday 14th May.
There is an open invitation to all from the county and beyond to come to the historic home of racing and experience the very best Flat racing alongside all that Suffolk has to offer, as the county celebrates the Queen’s 70 years on the throne.
Decorated with bunting and flags, not only will the racecourse host a great day of racing, to cater for all the family there will be craft activities for children, face-painting, a Hornby model racetrack, strolling musicians, and Suffolk Punches to admire. A Spitfire and a Hurricane will have flown in and will be on display, along with their pilots and suitably uniformed re-enactors to chat to.
Whether you are a regular race goer or taking a trip to the world’s greatest racecourse for the very first time, a huge celebration awaits you as Suffolk joins forces to launch our Festival of Suffolk, and our County celebrations for HM Queens Platinum Jubilee. Everyone is invited to experience the excitement of world class racing on our very own doorstep whilst as the same time helping to raise funds to support those in need in Suffolk via The Festival Legacy Fund, managed by Suffolk Community Foundation, providing a very special launch pad for The Cambridge Children’s Hospital and their important plans to support children and their families across East Anglia.
The first big event of the Festival of Suffolk, Family Race Day will welcome the Torch Relay, which will have begun its 550 mile rickshaw journey the previous day, as it arrives at Newmarket Racecourse. On board the cycle rickshaw, (which is run by the charity, Bury St Edmunds Rickshaws) the Festival of Suffolk Torch will be carried by a nominated local hero, to be welcomed by the thousands of families present.
Newmarket is a truly special place. It is a town with a rich, royal history where the thoroughbred racehorse is king. It is the town where horseracing, the “sport of kings”, was born some three and a half centuries ago and from where it was exported around the world.
The day will also support the Cambridge Children’s Hospital Campaign. The new hospital will treat children and young people from across the Eastern Region.
We are incredibly grateful to the Festival of Suffolk Race Day for supporting the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital, and for the opportunity to highlight the benefits a new dedicated children’s hospital will bring to children and families across the East of England. Our fundraising campaign was announced last year with a target to raise £100 million in philanthropy and fundraising. The Hospital will provide a whole new way of caring for children and young people, integrating mental and physical healthcare which will be underpinned by world leading research from the University of Cambridge.
We’re really excited to be hosting the Festival of Suffolk Race Day at The Rowley Mile and celebrating all that is great about the county at one of its most recognisable sporting venues. The Queen’s role as Patron of The Jockey Club and as a longstanding racehorse owner, breeder and fan of the sport add real significance to these celebrations of the 70 years of her reign and we’re looking forward to a superb day where there will be something for everyone on Saturday 14th May.
Tickets for the Family Race Day start at £12, with under-18’s going for free, but NHS Blue Card holders can apply for free tickets for the day. https://www.bluelightcard.co.uk
Gates open at 11.30 and racing begins 1.30pm. There will be plenty of time to enjoy the activities and entertainment as well as the racing, all of which will continue until teatime.
- There is a whole series of fantastic events and activities happening between May and October 2022. Some of these are unique to the Festival, some are the regular annual treats that we already know and love from around the county, and in our own local communities. The Festival is a celebration of Suffolk during The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee that brings all communities together in joyful celebration and creates a powerful legacy to increase the visibility of our county and improve local lives for many years to come.
- Our legacy goal is the build a Festival Fund of £5m by 2025, to be given in grants to help charities, community groups and social enterprises working in these six areas: . Opportunity and Education, Health and Well-being, Community. Enterprise, the Environment and Culture and Tourism (These are the Festival themes).