Lowestoft First Light Festival to return in June

The First Light Festival in Lowestoft will run non-stop for 24 hours from 18 to 19 June

A 24-hour beach festival will return this summer after the Covid-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled twice.

The First Light Festival, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, will be held from midday on Saturday, 18 June, to midday on Sunday, 19 June.

The multi-arts and science festival will come to the town's South Beach.

This year a half marathon will be held, as well as a cycling challenge, which will ride into Norfolk, in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice, in Ipswich.

The event was "conceived as part of the vision for the cultural regeneration for South Beach", organisers said

The event has been funded by East Suffolk Council and the Arts Council and was held for the first time in 2019.

Genevieve Christie, the festival director in charge of programming, said: "After two years of uncertainty and cancellations, First Light 2022 will be all about renewal and reconnection.

"The last two years have been such a disappointment, we're so excited it's now going ahead."

The event will be held the weekend closest to the summer solstice, as Lowestoft was the country's most easterly point, she added.

The First Light Festival started in 2019 and attracted 30,000 people over 24 hours

Greg Cooper, the Run Or Cycle (ROC) events organiser, said: "We are so thrilled to be hosting these unique events as part of First Light and enabling more people to be a part of the festival."

The ROC Coastal Trail, a half marathon for runners and walkers, will start on South Beach, will head along the coast towards Kessingland, before looping back.

The 100-mile cycle ride will head into Cromer, with the shorter 50 mile ride taking in parts of neighbouring Norfolk.

The festival's full programme will be announced at the end of March.

In 2019 the first event took place on Lowestoft's South Beach, Kensington Gardens and Promenades