Immersive history exhibit brings Suffolk’s Platinum Years to life

As The Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee this month, the Suffolk Show will be at the centre of our county’s celebrations with a host of new attractions and commemorative displays in Her Majesty’s honour. One exhibit not to be missed this year is ‘Suffolk: The Platinum Years’ which takes visitors on an immersive tour of county life over the past 70 years.

‘Suffolk: The Platinum Years’ is a pop-up museum-style exhibit organised by a huge number of local business and charities, all working together to share historical artefacts and create brand new, interactive displays that have never been seen before. The exhibit is spread across a spectacular two acres with displays in home life, fashion, transport, farming, food, technology, music and more.

Highlights include a huge collection of vintage cars and trucks from 1950s to present day, a street party with retro food from The Food Museum, a mock 1950s school classroom and graduation ceremony with University of Suffolk, vintage football kit from ITFC, flour milling and bread making experience with Morrisons, and a virtual reality tour of the radar station at Bawdsey Manor created by apprentices at BT. Visitors can take a trip down memory lane with nostalgic displays of iconic toys, kitchen appliances, familiar TV adverts, fashion and wedding dresses through the decades.

Exhibit sponsor Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe will be showcasing the evolution of the UK’s biggest container port, and there will be a display on the construction of the Orwell Bridge.

Tony Pulham, Suffolk Show steward and organiser of the ‘Suffolk: The Platinum Years’ exhibit, said: “We are working with organisations across East Anglia to pull together this special exhibit for The Queen’s Jubilee, with representation from all aspects of county life. It’s set to be a huge, interactive experience where visitors can reminisce about days gone by and visualise 70 years of history in honour of Her Majesty’s Platinum reign. We look forward to unveiling this unique exhibit to visitors at this year’s Show. It’s something that even seasoned show-goers won’t have seen before.”

Elsewhere around the Suffolk Show, visitors can purchase Jubilee souvenirs and watch the Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk Clare Euston plant the last of 70 new trees as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy at Trinity Park.

On the second day of the Show, Wednesday 1 June, visitors can also see the finale of the Festival of Suffolk Torch Relay as its 500-mile journey through Suffolk’s villages concludes in the Collins Grand Ring, and there will be a special Jubilee Pageant with military salute and performance from the Red Devils Army Parachute Display Team.

The Suffolk Show, organised by registered charity Suffolk Agricultural Association, is hosted at Trinity Park in Ipswich on 31 May and 1 June. The event is a huge celebration of Suffolk which attracts around 90,000 visitors each year, 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.