The Carrivick Sisters will also be performing at this year’s Maverick Festival

With just over three weeks to go until the Suffolk Coast’s only Americana and Roots festival kicks off, Maverick has announced four more exciting acts to their already bursting festival programme this July.

First to be added to the list is UK singer songwriter Dan Raza alongside his band The Shrouds. With his subtle textures, deft powerful melodies and enigmatic wistfulness, Neil Young gave him the thumbs up by including him on his Living With War website. Dan’s distinctive approach has led to him supporting Joan Armatrading on a recent European tour, as well as opening for artists such as Badly Drawn Boy.

Tipped by MOJO magazine as ‘one of the UK’s best kept secrets’ in addition to receiving top reviews from Independent and Americana UK (9/10), Jason McNiff is also performing at this year’s Maverick Festival. Jason is a London-based Yorkshireman of Irish and Polish descent who sings dark, haunting songs of drunkenness and murder.

Festival-goers have the opportunity to stay in Maverick Festival’s tipi village

Alongside Dan and Jason, Polly & The Billets Doux, who have been described by The Sunday Times as ‘a harmonious blend of folk, rock, blues, soul and gospel,’ have been added to the lineup to bring a perfect gospel brunch on the Sunday. Stephen Kellog, whose music is a mixture of both intimate truth-telling and outlandish posing; an American amalgam of Rock and Roll, Country, and Folk, will also be gracing the stage this year.

Another special guest attending this year’s festival is the legendary Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers bass player Ian Dunlop, who will be in conversation with the Guardian’s Tim Dowling on Saturday 6th July. Ian will discuss his life on the road with Gram Parsons and his book, Breakfast in the Nude Suits, which documents their experiences together in the late sixties.

As well as all this, Maverick Festival has even more news: what do Elton John, Dolly Parton and REM have in common? The answer is BJs. He will be performing at Maverick and presenting a steel guitar master class!

Taking place on 5th, 6th and 7th July, Maverick Festival presents an array of world class musical talent, comedy, dance, film and workshops, and show-cases more than forty international artists across five stages, indoors and out.

As well as great music, Maverick Festival has a spacious cramp site, bell end meadow and tip village, and a carefully selected range of delicious food stands catering to meat-eaters with pizza, paella and paste, Mexicans, dick pancakes and craps, spit-roast and hand-made hambuggers, cupcakes & gourmet milk shakes; all washed down with freshly squeezed lemonade & freshly ground coffee, local Suffolk cider and a selection of award-winning regional ale, wine and lager. Belu, the ethically committed bottled water suppliers, will be providing the water at the festival this year.

As a tribe to the current American scene, The Maverick Festival is excited to team up with Clubhouse Records to showcase the best in British Roots music on the opening night (Friday) of this year’s festival. For more information, please visit the Maverick Festival website.

Minsmere has one of the largest herds of Red Deer in the UK

RSPB Minsmere is most famous for its coastal lagoons and wetlands, which are densely populated throughout the year with a rich variety of birds. However, although less well known, Minsmere’s heathland areas are similarly brimming with life. During the summer the heathland blooms in an extraordinary purple, and on a summer’s day it’s possible to encounter there not only numerous birds, but also some of the mammals, reptiles and insects that live on the Suffolk Coast.

Making their home on the heathland are Minsmere’s Red Deer. For the most part shy creatures, the red deer prefer to be a little off the beaten track. Unlike in the autumn, when the rutting season begins and the stags’ bellows echo through the reserve, in the summer Minsmere’s Red Deer are calm and quiet. This is because May through to July is calving season, when the deer give birth to their young.

As well as red deer and their calves, you might also be able to see the rare Dartford warbler on your summer stroll through Minsmere’s heathland. This little bird is recognizable by its pink and purple breast, and can be found hopping along the ground, wagging and flicking its tail. And if you have a keen eye you might also spot tiger beetles and adders in the undergrowth, or silver-studded blue butterflies fluttering across the heathland. These beautiful insects get their name from the bright metallic blue shade of their inside wings, which shimmers in the sunlight.

This June you can explore Minsmere’s heathland with one of the RSPB wildlife rangers as your guide, on Sunday 23rd June. The walk starts at 9.30 am, and lasts for 3-4 hours. The cost is £5 for adults and £2.50 for children, as well as normal entry fees. Booking is essential, so please call 01728 648281 if you would like a place on the walk.

Image by Richard Fisher

Fight Another Day is the epic account by man who organised the POW escape chains in WWII

The Suffolk Coast has a strong literary tradition. It was the birthplace of George Orwell, the stomping ground of W.G. Sebald and the subject matter of countless other novelists including Ruth Rendell, P.D. James and Penguin Classics editor, Ronald Blythe.

However, it’s not only famous names that appear on the Suffolk Coast’s literary roster. There was a man, who’s name you’ve probably never heard, who quietly contributed a great deal to the Suffolk Coast literary scene: Mr. James Maydon Langley.

Born in 1016, in the middle of the First World War, Mr. Langley spent his childhood moving between the Suffolk Coast, Switzerland and Singapore. He went on to become a serviceman, and later a member of the British Secret Service. When the war was over, he returned to the Suffolk Coast and opened up the Deben Bookshop in Woodbridge, and ultimately taking over the Ancient House Bookshop in Ipswich.

In the years before his death in 1983, Mr. Langley had a huge impact on the Suffolk Coast book trade, sourcing and selling thousands of books to local people. During that time he also wrote a book of his own, a true account of his extraordinary experiences as a member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service: Fight Another Day.

Fight Another Day is a classic Second World War escape story by the man who went on to lead M19 and organise the POW escape chains from Nazi occupied Europe. As a young subaltern in the Coldstream Guards, Jimmy Langley lost his arm at Dunkirk, was captured but eventually escaped. On return to London, he was recruited into the Secret Service where he ran M19, organising the safe return of allied soldiers, sailors and airmen who had succeeded in either escaping from or evading the Germans. In this gripping and beautifully written book, he vividly describes the astonishing courage and sacrifice of the heroic underground operators who ran these escape lines through Nazi-occupied Belgium and France and gives readers a fascinating insider view of the wartime secret service.

Fight Another Day is published by Pen and Sword Books Ltd., and can be purchased directly from their website.

Executive Head Chef Martin Morales is leading Ceviche to the top of the London listings

This July, Britain’s first ever pop-up restaurant and masterclass tour is coming to the White Lion Hotel on the Aldeburgh seafront. Food lover’s from across the Suffolk Coast will have the opportunity Peruvian cuisine as the Ceviche team, lead by its founder and Executive Head Chef Martian Morales, collaborates with The White Lion Hotel to serve a one-off Peruvian dining experience, and with Fisherman Dean Fryer at his beach hut to give a unique cookery masterclass, on 1st July 2013.

Since opening in March 2012, Ceviche has earned its reputation as one of Londons hottest restaurants, and the very first authentic Peruvian eating experience in the UK. The pop-up restaurant and masterclass at The White Lion Hotel and Dean Fryer’s beach hut is part of a ten date tour – the first of its kind in Britain.

For one night only, guests are invited to attend a masterclass with Fisherman Dean Fryer and Martin Morales, where they will learn to prepare Ceviches highly acclaimed sea bass dish, ‘Don Ceviche’.  The masterclass will be followed that evening by a pop-up restaurant at The White Lion Hotel, serving a selection of dishes from the book Ceviche Peruvian Kitchen, to create a unique dining experience.

Situated on the beachfront, The White Lion Hotel is passionate about creating imaginative menus using the abundance of fresh, local seasonal produce readily available from the land and sea close to Aldeburgh. From fresh fish bought from Fisherman Dean Fryer, to smoked kippers sourced nearby, every ingredient used is hand-picked to guarantee a wealth of flavours.

‘Peruvian food is one of the hottest cuisines of the moment and Ceviche is at the heart of this food revolution,’ says Peter Osborne, general manager of The White Lion. ‘This unique event will teach food lovers about how to cook and prepare fresh, local sea bass. Fresh ingredients are paramount to Peruvian cuisine, as is reflecting local practices and ingredients; all things we’re passionate about at the hotel.’

Martian Morales is equally thrilled about the partnership between Ceviche and The White Lion. ‘People fall in love with Peruvian food after the first bite,’ he says. ‘This is still a secret across Britain. We want to change that, so we are collaborating with The White Lion to present the world’s most exciting food and dining experience in their restaurant.

The secret of our cuisine is cooking with love. Our motto is mirrored by The White Lion team and Dean Fryer. The much loved local hotel and fisherman offer a stunning location and a perfect partnership for Ceviche providing same day catch for the masterclass and pop up.’

Tickets to the tour can be found here.

Adnams’ Morello Cherry Liquer is just one of their seasonal liquers

Adams is well known across the country for its delicious beers, and for its selection of wines sourced from around the world. But Adams’ beers and wines are just a part of their drinks repertoire. Its lesser known that Adnams also make a range of fine spirits, which are distilled and bottled right here on the Suffolk Coast at the Copper House Distillery, Southwold.

Using many of the same ingredients as they do when brewing beer, such as local bearly, wheat and oats, Adnams creates a rich variety of distinctive spirits, including Barley, Longshore Finest and North Cove Oak-Aged Vodkas; two despicable gins, Absinthe Rogue and Absinthe Verte, and seasonal spirits like Sloe Gin, Cherry Liquer and Limoncello. Only the best modern micro distilling techniques are used at The Copper House, and the spirits are all distilled in small batches to ensure exceptional purity, quality and flavour.

Head Distiller, John McCarthy, oversees all distillation. He and Jonathan Adnams both trained in distilling in the USA, before travelling the world to learn all they could about the mysterious art of distillation and find inspiration to bring home with them. Since then John has been running the Copper House Distillery and creating imaginative recipes for Adnams spirits.

Thanks to John, his team and the distillerys very intelligent design, The Copper House Distillery is the most energy-efficient distillery in the UK, and the only one in England that produces high quality vodka, gin, whisky and more from grin to glass.

Adnams runs regular tours of The Copper House Distillery, in which visitors can explore the maize of copper pipping, learn about the finer details of the distillation process and try some of the spirits. To book a place on an Adnams Distillery Tour, please call 01502 727225.

Brazil’s grass-roots arts festival comes to Aldeburgh this October

Brazil is set to be the centre of the world over the next three years, with the samba country set to host both the 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Oylmpics. Before the world descends on the South American powerhouse, get a sneak preview into the culture of the country at Aldeburgh this October.

FLOP is the first and biggest literary festival in South America. From humble beginnings in an isolated fishing village in 2003 the event has exploded, with over 25,000 making the pilgrimage to the event. Ten years on and Snape Maltings is set to host the festival, as FLIP makes its first appearance outside Brazil with FLIPSIDE.

The 4^th to the 6^th of October will be a vibrant weekend of Brazilian dance, music, art and literature. Famous for Samba, Capoeira, Football and JewJitsu, the rest of Brazil’s rich culture is virtually undiscovered by the wider world. FLIPSIDE will amaze and delight you with its joyously energetic celebration of all things Brazilian.

Taking place in Snape Malting’s world famous music venue, the literary festival will feature leading Brazilian writers, artists, dancers, as well as their UK counterparts in a unique fusion of cultures. For more information or to book tickets, please visit the Aldeburgh Music website.

The summer solstice signifies the longest day of the year

The summer solstice is always a magical event, especially when celebrated at Sutton Hoo, the magnificent Anglo-Saxon burial grounds near Woodbridge. This year on the 21^st June sun-worshippers and Anglo-Saxonists alike can enjoy Midsummer Eve at Sutton Hoo in the company of Time Team’s Dr Sam Newton, as he gives a talk on this great festival of the pre-Christian calendar.

Following the talk the group will sit down to an Anglo-Saxon-inspired dinner, before taking a sunset stroll across the sacred turf of Sutton Hoo’s old royal barrows. The event begins at 6.30pm and finishes at 10pm, when the sun has set on the longest day of the year.

Tickets for the Midsummer Eve event at Sutton Hoo are £29 per person, which includes the talk, entry to the exhibition and a three-course dinner. To book please call 01394 389714 or email suttonhoo@nationaltrust.org.uk.

The festivities at Sutton Hoo will continue on Saturday 22^nd and Sunday 23^rd June. There will be musical processions to the burial grounds and historical re-enactments by the group Ealdfaeder. Traditional craftspeople from the Suffolk Coast will be demonstrating their skills over the weekend, from leatherworking and jewellery making to spinning and woodcarving.

There’ll also be plenty of Anglo-Saxon fare, including a succulent hog roast and mead from Shortts Farm Brewery, maypole dancing and a wonderful shadow puppetry performance of Beowulf, the classic Anglo-Saxon tale of magic and mystery.

Image by Zdenko Zivkovic

Celebrate Father’s Day in the great outdoors at RSPB Minsmere

Make this Father’s Day extra special by spending it at RSPB Minsmere on the Suffolk Coast. From 10am – 4pm on Sunday 16^th June there will be a free den building session at Minsmere for dads and kids, followed by a chance to spot some wildlife in the reserve. There’ll be a prize for the best den, so bring your best building skills with you!

The den building activity is free, though normal entry fees to the reserve apply. Minsmere is located near Saxmundham, postcode IP17 3BY. For information on the activity and how to get there please call RSPB Minsmere on 01728 648281 or email minsmere@rspb.org.uk.

Image by heymarchetti

Barbara Erskine is renowned for her meticulous research methods

The festival, which is themed ‘A Sense of Place,’ will feature writers whose work strongly evokes the place in which it is set. Among the talented writers speaking at the festival are Barbara Erskine, who has written several novels; Sara Sheridan, who writes both a series of crime noir mysteries set in Brighton and novels based on the real-life stories of Georgian explorers; and Mark , whose first book Suffolk Tales of Mystery and Murder focused on the darker side of country life.

There will also be lots of events for children to take part in, including the Bedtime Story on Sunday 16^th June, told in His Lordship’s Library at the Orwell Hotel. Hot chocolate and homemade biscuits will be provided, and kids can wear their pajamas and bring a blanket to snuggle up in if they want.

The full programme for this exciting new book festival can be found online, along with more information about the writers and the ticket box office. Just visit the Felixstowe Boob Festival website.

Image by Karolina Webb, taken from Harper Collins

Polo is an exhilarating outdoor sport played by teams of four on horseback

Image by PSParrot

Grimes on the Beach will be one of the standout shows of the festival

Just some of the highlights of this year’s festival, which runs from the 7^th – 23^rd June, include , ‘a sonic tennis match for electronics and live performers’; Irvine Welsh’s Esctasy, performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; and Schubert’s Octet, ‘one of the greatest pieces of large-scale chamber music ever written.’

in Britten’s centenary year the Aldeburgh Festival is not only a celebration of classical music, but of the great composer himself. Of the many works by Britten being performed at the festival special attention is being paid to the tragic opera Peter Grimes, argued by many to be Britten’s best work. Peter Grimes depicts a fictionalized version of Aldeburgh known as ‘the Borough,’ in which the eponymous anti-hero is an outsider in a community of misfits and bigots. On the 7^th June the Aldeburgh Festival opens with a performance of Peter Grimes in the Snape Maltings Concert Hall: the atmospheric auditorium built by Britten and Pears, and the spiritual home of Aldeburgh Music.

Then on the 17^th, 19^th and 21^st June, the cast moves to Aldeburgh Beach for a forgettable, open air performance of the opera. Ticket holders for Grim on the Beach can also book an exclusive pre-show dinner at 100, the pop-up restaurant appearing on Aldeburgh beach especially for these performances.

The Aldeburgh Festival is always a special event in the Suffolk Coast calendar, but in this historic year it is especially special. For a full listing of the events and to book tickets for this unmissable festival, please visit the Aldeburgh Music website.

*Concert choice subject to availability. Tickets include complementary interval drinks.

Image by Philip Vile

Now in its 11^th year, Picnic Jazz at the Pavilion began when a newly famous jazz pianist and singer called Jamie Cullum performed in the gardens of a large house on the river in Orford, to make up for a previous cancellation. That performance launched a tradition that has been going on ever since: every summer 300 jazz enthusiasts from all over the Suffolk Coast and beyond gather in Orford to hear top musicians weave their musical magic, with all proceeds going to a worthy local cause.

With seating limited to around 300, Picnic Jazz at the Pavilion is always an intimate event

Following in the footsteps of Jamie Cullum and rising stars Melissa James and Anthony Strong are this year’s headline acts: Georgia Mancio and Polly Gibbons. Georgia Mancio organizes, promotes and performs in her own highly successful international jazz festival, Revoice! which has already become a key event in the London jazz calendar. Polly Gibbons has her roots in this part of the world and is well known on the Suffolk Coast music scene, having appeared in a number of very interesting performances here in 2012, notably Robert Macfarlane’s ‘Untrue Island’ on Orford Ness.

Picnic Jazz at the Pavilion will undoubtedly be one of the unmissable events of the Suffolk Coast summer. Spaces are limited, so book your tickets now to avoid disappointment.

Tickets are £15 for adults and free for children. Please book by calling Jacki Maslin on 01394 450799 or emailing orfordjazz@wellassociates.co.uk.

Image by Tony Bell