Primadonna - voted Suffolk’s best festival* - has just announced its ‘Suffolk Sunday’ offer. This gives residents in the county FREE entry into the event on its final day - Sunday 31st July. All you need to do is register online via the Primadonna website (see details below) and take along proof of your postcode.

“It isn’t just a heap of fun – though it absolutely is that too, joyously, riotously fun,” says Catherine Mayer, festival co-founder. “We also started Primadonna to open the festival to new audiences and a wider and more exciting range of participants, on stage and off. People have told us that Primadonna was not only the best weekend they ever had; it changed their lives, inspiring them to follow dreams and opening new opportunities for them to do so.”

The festival lineup includes Jordan Stephens from hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks talking feminism and friendship; Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (nemesis of Piers Morgan) talking up the need for revolution, and author Natasha Lunn (Conversations on Love) talking about alternatives to the traditional happy ending of marriage and kids. Plus a Time Machine Disco, live music, a retelling of a Suffolk assizes complete with stocks to put your loved ones in and loads of stuff for kids, including steam engine rides, mini beast walks and a book hunt.

“We were voted Best Festival in Suffolk this year, and we thought this would be a great way of saying thank you to locals, who have taken Primadonna to their hearts,” Catherine says. “We’ve got a really packed programme across the whole weekend and are excited about bringing amazing artists like La Roux to Suffolk for the weekend, sharing top billing with Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Suffragette, The Split); TV presenter and writer June Sarpong; and authors like Joanne Harris (Chocolat), Erin Kelly (He Said/She Said, The Poison Tree), Cathy Rentzenbrink (The Last Act of Love) and Juno Dawson (This Book Is Gay, Meat Market).”

Highlights of this year’s programme include:

● International superstar musician La Roux (Elly Jackson) in conversation with friend and international superstar writer Catherine Mayer in the must-see session ‘Been there, done that, messed around’. This will cover Elly’s career highlights, life in the paparazzi lens, and the problems of being a ‘figurehead’ in a world that refuses nuance.

● Sunday Times bestselling-author and acclaimed memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink in conversation with BAFTA and award-winning screenwriter Abi Morgan, creator of hit BBC series The Split, whose memoir This Is Not A Pity Memoir has just been published to praise from Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, Nigella Lawson, Caitlin Moran and many more.

● Author and Broadcaster Symeon Brown hosting a discussion on influencer culture with Alex Light (457k followers on Instagram) and influencers Natalie Lee aka StyleMeSunday (111k followers, and a new book ‘Feeling Myself’ out on 9 June)

● Viv Groskop recording an episode of her award-winning How To Own The Room podcast live at the festival

● Kit de Waal, whose memoir Without Warning and Only Sometimes is out in August, in conversation about the past, the present and what the future looks like if you’re born poor in Britain.

● Sunday Times’ million copy bestseller Erin Kelly, author of eight thrillers, offering insider know-how on ‘How To Write A Killer Novel’

● Author and Features Director of Red magazine Natasha Lunn leading some Conversations on Love, the title of her recent book and hugely successful online newsletter - and the focus of a panel on alternative happy endings… including divorce!

● Juno Dawson and Zoe Howe exploring the phenomenon of witchcraft, the power of the witch figure and the legacy of the witch trials on contemporary culture and iconography

● Patsy Stevenson, whose face became the defining image of the Sarah Everard vigil in 2021, in discussion with activist and commentator Shola Mos-Shogbamimu on the scandals enveloping the Metropolitan police as well as the growing scrutiny of the monarchy in light of Megxit, Prince Andrew’s conduct and the Queen’s Jubilee year. Are we ready for a revolution?

● Jordan Stephens, known for his brilliant music with Rizzle Kicks, talking about #MeToo, male allyship and what needs to change in the battle to end misogyny and sexism with acclaimed journalist and campaigner Sophie Gallagher (pictured left), author of How Men Can Help, and Winnie Li, whose new novel Complicit explores the relationship between money and power and the culture of complicity

The festival has lots for families to do together (and apart) this year, with organisers creating a dedicated programme for young people that will leave parents free to take in their own agenda. Highlights include a promenade performance of Alice in Wonderland, a ‘Disco Time Machine’ that will take young (and old!) groovers back through music history and workshops from children’s authors include Annaliese Avery and Patrice Lawrence.

The full music line-up is yet to be announced, but Friday’s headliner has been confirmed as Baby Queen, whose music can be heard on the soundtrack of the smash hit TV series Heartstopper.

And if you’re a writer (or want to be), Primadonna offers the chance to rub shoulders with agents, authors and publishers or take the Primadonna Creative Writing ‘Masters’, in partnership with the University of Suffolk. It’s all included in the ticket price.

(* As voted by the East Anglian Festival Network).

+ For further information and tickets go to: www.primadonnafestival.com