First Light Festival in Lowestoft focuses on female-led line-up

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

A free arts festival which celebrates the summer solstice in the UK's most easterly town is focussing on female talent this year, it has announced.

The First Light Festival returns to Lowestoft in Suffolk on 22 and 23 June with outdoor events centred around the south beach and gardens.

It includes a female-led line-up of comedy and poetry, and "formidable" women DJs in the dunes.

Chief executive Genevieve Christie said it encouraged all to get involved.

The theme of north, south, east and west will be threaded through the programme, with "a strong international line-up with a very cosmopolitan flavour", the organisers added.

The festival features local and emerging talent as well as big-name acts, some of which appear at ticketed events, including comedian Shaparak Khorsandi at Seagull Theatre.

A dance tent, deep sea-themed silent disco, daybreak yoga, "planet positive" workshops and street food all feature, with events kicking off with a parade on Saturday morning.

One of the upcoming acts appearing over the weekend has been given the opportunity to also perform at Latitude Festival in July, in the first collaboration between the two Suffolk events.

"We're very excited to be back on Lowestoft's South Beach this June, to celebrate the midsummer with another packed programme inspired by our unique most-easterly location," said Ms Christie.

"We look forward to welcoming everyone to this year's festival and encourage you all to get involved as a volunteer or by taking part in our upcoming community projects."

Last year, its founder, designer Wayne Hemingway, said it was important to hold an arts festival in a town like Lowestoft "that has had a bad rap and difficult times".

"Culture can mean so much, it can bring hope and creates jobs, and I'm just proud," he added.