A POPULAR festival which attracts more than 2,000 people every year is set to celebrate its 35th year.
The Coggeshall Flower Festival at the Parish Church of St Peter ad Vincula will feature more than 150 arrangements in 24 displays.
A total of 32 talented flower arrangers will work for four days to put the festival together.
The arrangements tell the stories of kings and queens of the Bible, including the Pharoah’s dreams, the arrival of the Queen of Sheba at the court of King Soloman, and King Herod summoning the three wise men.
There will be cakes and refreshments available at the event, as well as popular stalls with cards, preserves, produce and plants.
The event takes months of planning and everyone involved is looking forward to the festival.
Festival organiser Judy Crawford, who has been involved since the start, said: “I am excited about it. We are hoping lots of people will come again.
“They come from a long way away. There’s a family that comes from east London and spends the whole day with us. They love to come every year.
“As well as the flower festival itself, Coggeshall church is very beautiful and very historic.
“We do pretty large arrangements which tell the Bible stories.
“When we started it, our then vicar likened it to the stained glass windows, telling stories.
“The church is magnificent, and it’s a great community event. It brings people to the area and into the church.
“It’s a very large local community event as so many people are involved, so that’s very much a part of it.
“It goes from strength to strength. We’ve been doing it for so long - our flower arrangements get bigger and bigger.”
The event runs from Saturday, August 26, to Tuesday, August 29.
Doors open at 10am on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, and at 11am on Sunday, and the festival closes at 5pm each day.
There will be a concert on Saturday by Martin Dobson’s Midnight Oil, which will start at 7.30pm, with tickets priced £12 for adults and £2 for under-16s.
Entry to the flower festival is free. Donations are welcome.
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