Last weekend, the world’s spotlight shone on Ipswich for Ed Sheeran’s homecoming, and we rose to the occasion.
Ed might be Suffolk's greatest musical export, but he returned for a trio of shows, his first ticketed performances in Ipswich in over half a decade.
Over 90,000 people descended on Portman Road for the sell-out shows, with fans travelling from all over to be there.
Our town was awash with pink. The shop fronts and other famous landmarks all bought into the occasion with our Town Hall, the Old Custom House, Christchurch Park and the Willis Building all donning the shade in celebration. Pink clothes, banners, bunting and signs emblazoned with the words ‘Welcome Home Ed’ were everywhere you looked.
Pubs were serving pink drinks, and even the grass was pink in places!
Ipswich Borough Council and Ipswich Central worked in partnership to host a three-day homecoming party in the town centre.
The Cornhill was transformed into an Ed Sheeran Fan Zone featuring a large screen filled with music, trivia and live messages from fans – huge thanks to Suffolk Sound for hosting!
There was also live busking from local artists in Alderman Park each afternoon, the Pink Plaque Trail marked 16 key spots on Ed’s musical journey and new murals in the Buttermarket Shopping Centre and Tower Street Food Hall were painted in tribute.
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this hat-trick of shows such a celebration.
In a way, it felt like a full circle moment. As he said on stage, Ed attended the Elton John concert at Portman Road in 2004 where James Blunt was the opening act. He became Ed’s favourite artist and inspired much of his music, so it felt fitting that James was part of Ed’s shows.
You couldn’t help thinking that, among the 90,000 people who attended across the weekend, one of them could become the next Ed Sheeran. I can’t wait to find out who it will be, and to follow their musical journey.
Some gigs just mean more. This weekend brought in thousands of visitors and generated millions for our local businesses and economy, but was about more than money.
Ed is an international superstar at the peak of his powers, and people love his music. Yet, these gigs were full of happiness, pride and community too.
Ed Sheeran has done so much for Ipswich and Suffolk. From the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation which helps children in Suffolk learn instruments, songwriting skills, production and performing to his work for the East Anglia Children’s Hospice, we are lucky to have him.
In November, I was joined by Ed, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, and hundreds of Ipswich schoolchildren, for a secret gig at The Baths and a tour of Brighten the Corners’ unique venues.
This is the really exciting aspect to reflect on. Clearly, this was a special weekend, one that will live long in the memory. However, our music, arts and cultural offering is exploding. From Brighten the Corners to Ipswich Music Day, from the Windrush Big Weekender to the Hop to it! trail, it feels like we have something on every week this summer.
Then we have DanceEast, the Wolsey 550, Eastern Angles, Red Rose Chain, our football club, SPILL, our museum and Christchurch Mansion: I could go on and on. Ed’s gigs are the pinnacle of Ipswich’s thriving arts and culture scene. It feels like so much is happening is right now – it is so exciting and positive.
People will be talking about this weekend for years to come. Ipswich was decked out in pink, with thousands of people coming from all over to revel in the sunshine.
It made people happy, brought us all together, and we felt so proud to be from Ipswich and Suffolk.
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