Access for all at the Suffolk Show

With one month to go until the Suffolk Show returns (Tuesday 31 May and Wednesday 1 June), organisers are making sure that every visitor of all ages and abilities can enjoy a great day out. There are a range of accessible services and free facilities around the Showground at Trinity Park in Ipswich, which cater for disabled visitors, wheelchair users and families with babies too.

This year, the Suffolk Show offers a free ‘Access For All’ centre, run by Suffolk New College at grid reference S5, with a calm space for visitors to enjoy a quiet respite with a free hot drink. There are also two new public toilet blocks, with one including disabled toilets, disabled changing facilities with hoists, and baby changing facilities situated off Main Avenue.

Around the Showground there are many solid paths suitable for wheelchairs and prams which connect the exhibits, and there is a more spacious layout this year to allow for easier access and less crowding. There are public benches around the site, or visitors can enjoy a day of seated entertainment beside the Collins Grand Ring with a free public grandstand and wheelchair accessible spaces.

Electric mobility scooters and manual wheelchairs are available to hire from the Bucklesham Entrance for a small fee donated to the Event Mobility Charitable Trust, and it is advised that visitors book these online in advance. Blue Badge Holders can access forward car parking in all Show car parks,or drop off at the main entrance.

Bruce Kerr, Suffolk Show director, said: “It is important that we offer a Suffolk Show that is inclusive and welcoming to visitors of all abilities and needs. We have implemented a number of accessible facilities and services and we have a brilliant team of Stewards on-hand to ensure every visitor can enjoy their day out.”

The Suffolk Show is the county’s biggest day out, organised by registered charity Suffolk Agricultural Association, which attracts around 90,000 visitors over two action-packed days each year. The event is a huge celebration of Suffolk with food, farming and agriculture at its core.

This year, parking at the Suffolk Show will be free and children under the age of 15 will once again receive free entry. Early bird tickets are now on sale at £26.50 per adult (tickets will be £28.50 per adult if purchased after 21 May and £30 per adult on the gate) while young people between 15 to 18 are £7.50. Carers go free when accompanying a fee-paying disabled visitor.

For more information and to book tickets visit www.suffolkshow.co.uk.