Potential revival of Sudbury Silk Festival to be explored more than five years after debut

The possibility of bringing back a celebration of Sudbury’s storied silk-weaving heritage is under consideration, following its successful debut more than five years ago.

Sudbury Town Council agreed last week to engage with interested parties and stakeholders, on the idea of staging a second edition of the Sudbury Silk festival later this year.

The inaugural festival took place back in September 2019, with more than 5,000 visitors attending various events around Sudbury.

The festival included a vast exhibition and demonstrations at Sudbury Arts Centre – then known as St Peter’s – on Market Hill, alongside silk-related talks and guided tours around the town.

Subsequently, it was suggested by Babergh District Council in January 2020 that the festival could take place every two years, and proposals for a follow-up in 2021 were already in the works.

Organisers had also begun preparing a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, supported by Gainsborough’s House, that sought three years of cash support.

However, the project was hindered by the Covid-19 pandemic, and Sudbury has not hosted another silk festival since the original.

At a meeting of Sudbury Town Council’s leisure and environment committee on January 28, members discussed the idea of reviving the occasion.

Cllr Andy Welsh said: “It seems like a nice idea. It’s promoting the town again.

“I think we all agree it’s worth looking into whether there should be a silk festival.”

However, Cllr Tim Regester warned that it could be more challenging than in 2019, because the people who organised the first event may not necessarily be available to do so again.

He pointed to the collapse of Vanners, which had been one of Sudbury’s longest-standing silk-weaving institutions at the time of the last festival, but which has since been liquidated.

“It might be something that will take a while, because you’ve got to approach all the different silk mills and you might get different responses than you did in 2019,” Mr Regester told the meeting.

“I think what need is we should put out some initial feelers and see if there’s any potential for this to happen. Effectively, we’re doing it from scratch again.”