Black Shuck Festival

A unique festival that celebrates folklore, imagination, and storytelling in its many forms, based on the strange and terrible wunder that is the Black Dog of Bungay. The Festival is held annually over the first weekend in August, commemorating the Black Shuck visitation in Bungay in August 1577.

The festival features theatre, music and performance, art, literature, and history, offering exciting and thrilling activities for all ages and abilities, immersing visitors in the rich folklore of the region, set in the stunning natural environment of Bungay and the Waveney valley.

The East Anglian legend of Black Shuck tells of a wild black dog that entered Bungay's St Mary's Church during a violent storm on 4 August 1577. The animal then reappeared at Blythburgh Church, where the beast was trapped and its claw marks, burned into the surface of the door, can be seen to this day.

For centuries, visitors and residents alike have marvelled at the details of these mysterious events and its protagonist, The Black Dog of Bungay, or Black Shuck. There remains a lingering superstition that Black Shuck still haunts the dark, lonesome lanes of Bungay and other Suffolk towns.

Living in the collective imaginations of local writers and artists of all mediums, the Black Shuck legend still influences the works produced here and continually attracts visitors to this unique and wonderful town.

The festival was established in 2022 to reclaim the legend, and the date, for the town of Bungay.