Lowestoft Town Council
Heritage Open Days, the national festival to celebrate local heritage, starts on Saturday 7th September and we have helped organise and support three events to mark this occasion.
Heritage Skills & Artisan Market | Saturday 7 September, 10am-4pm | Triangle Market
Featuring a variety of stalls and even some vintage vehicles on display, all are welcome to this celebration of heritage skills and local artisan businesses.
*There is still limited availability for stallholders so, if any local businesses are interested, please get in contact with us at admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk*
Lowestoft High Street Blitz Walk with Bob Collis | Saturday 7 September, 10am | Starting at Belle Vue Park
A fascinating guided tour through some little-known aspects of Lowestoft's chequered wartime history with one of East Anglia's foremost air-war experts, Bob Collis. An opportunity to see how enemy action affected North Lowestoft in two World Wars.
Pre-booking is preferred. This can be done by emailing us at admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Lowestoft Town Hall Talks with Sheila King | Saturday 7 September, 2pm & 3:15pm | Lowestoft Heritage Centre, Old School House, 80A High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 1XN
The Lowestoft Town Hall Project Manager, Sheila King, will provide an update on the Town Hall development, including insight into the design work to date and how we're planning to breathe new life into this important historic High Street building.
Full details on all the HODs events taking place in Lowestoft can be found on the HODs website.
Whilst the riders of the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men cycling race will be battling it out on roads between Lowestoft and Felixstowe on Sunday 8th September to be crowned champion, local businesses will be marking the occasion in a competition to see who has the best-dressed window display.
Organised by Lowestoft Town Council with funding provided by East Suffolk Council and the East Suffolk Council Communities Team, 15 local businesses will be vying for the public’s votes to have the best-dressed window with a Tour of Britain theme. The public have until Thursday 5th September to vote for their top three windows before the winners are announced on Friday 6th September ahead of race day.
The local businesses taking part are: Cash Inn Ltd, British Red Cross, Fan Fabric, Golden Memories Daycare, Heritage Centre & East Suffolk One Radio, Kirkley Florist, Lowestoft Arts Centre, Lowestoft Studio Ceramics, Moral of the Story Bookstore & Guitar Doctor UK, PJ Gilman, Parkers Formal Wear, RE General Morris, Tiqi – This is Quite Interesting, Uncle Sid’s Zero Waste Store and Woodworks Art Café.
The public can vote via the online poll: https://forms.office.com/e/xi1xxjH22t.
Read more on Vote for your Tour of Britain Best-Dressed Window!
Are you ready to rock 'n' roll?
We're celebrating all things 50s, 60s, and 70s Rock 'n' Roll music with this FREE event in Sparrows Nest Gardens this Saturday 24th August.
With a variety of food vendors, stalls and live music from 12noon, you're sure to be "rockin' around the clock".
Please make sure you are prepared for all weather possibilities. Any changes to the day will be shared via social media.
The Marina Theatre is to be upgraded to improve to audience facilities as part of the creation of a cultural quarter for Lowestoft.
The works will consist of the creation of a new theatre entrance within a new link building between the existing Victorian Theatre and the more modern Zenith Building. The new link incorporates a lift to give access to all floors of the Theatre, new toilets and a new box office. The new link will replace an existing single storey structure which will be demolished as part of this contract. The contract also includes some refurbishment works to the Theatre and the Zenith Building.
To receive full tender pack please contact Lowestoft Town Council at admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Closing Deadline: 16 September 2024, 12pm.
Read more on Marina Theatre Project | Extension and Alterations
Preparations for Lowestoft’s first Pride event are underway as Sparrows Nest Gardens gets ready to host Britain’s Most-Easterly Pride on Saturday 3rd August. Back for its second year, Lowestoft Pride promises to be a celebration of love, diversity, and community like no other.
This inclusive family-friendly celebration, which is being organised by Lowestoft Town Council, will include a variety of live entertainment and stalls throughout the day and into the evening with the event starting at 11am and ending at 7pm.
The stage in Sparrows Nest Gardens will see the likes of Ivy Aphrodite and Triple Entendre join local choir the Screamin’ Seagulls and community group Suffolk Sober Spaces. The Marina Samba Band will also be bringing a colourful, carnival atmosphere to the event.
This free event will also see a variety of stalls set up with activities and information. All the organisations involved champion the LGBT+ community. Stallholders on the day include True Colours Lowestoft, Oasis, Suffolk Sexual Health Service, LGBTQ+ Project, Norfolk and Waveney MIND, Re-utilise, Lowestoft Town Hall Project, The Way To Go Suffolk, Lowestoft Police and Suffolk Wildlife Trust amongst others.
As part of Lowestoft Town Council’s Climate initiatives, attendees to the event are encouraged to use public transport or alternative transport with limited car parking available.
Speaking ahead of the event, Cllr Nasima Begum, Mayor of Lowestoft, said “We are delighted to host Lowestoft Pride once again. This event is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our diverse community and promote inclusivity. We champion all our community, and we’re here to represent everybody. It’s an opportunity to educate and signpost people to various organizations to offer support and advice.”
It was wonderful to officially celebrate and open the tennis court facilities today at Denes Oval.
Thank you to everyone who came along and took part in the Lowestoft Town Tennis and Pickleball Club open day to try out both tennis and pickleball. The event runs until 1pm today.
The tennis courts at Denes Oval will be available to book for free via the LTA website. The use of the floodlights in the evenings (timings vary monthly) will include a small charge to cover the electricity.
Booking for courts is free and simple via the LTA Website.
Read more on Lowestoft celebrates launch of new Tennis facilities
The Grade II Lowestoft Town Hall was built during the late Victorian period and has been vacant since 2015. It is a prominent landmark on Lowestoft's historic High Street. Now owned by Lowestoft Town Council, grant funding from the Heritage Fund, Towns Fund and East Suffolk Council is supporting a project to restore and extend it.
The restored Town Hall will be transformed into a multifunctional community building - 1,900sqm over two floors - bringing significant footfall to this deprived area.
Lowestoft Town Council and the Registrars will become 'anchor' tenants; the remainder of the building will include a heritage gallery, a café, art gallery, coworking space, meeting rooms and events spaces, around a courtyard garden.
The development of the Town Hall is intended to contribute to economic regeneration, part of a multimillion-pound investment programme in this most easterly town.
The works consist of
• Demolition of some parts of the current structure/strip out of later additions to the building.
• Extensive reconfiguration and restoration of the existing buildings, including conservation of the historic fabric, including lime plaster, mouldings, original sash windows and doors, original floors etc and slate roof replacement.
• Construction of a new events space with prep kitchen and bar, and an art gallery
• M&E throughout including low carbon technologies (air source heat pumps, PV panels, MVHR etc), fire and security alarms; lifts; AV support.
• Groundworks, services and landscaping.
Full contract tender details can be found on Contracts Finder.
Tender documents can be accessed by emailing admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Closing Deadline: 19 August 2024, 12pm (please note that this deadline has been extended from the original date)
Read more on Lowestoft Town Hall | Refurbishment and Construction of Extensions
The newly refurbished tennis courts at Normanston Park will be open from tomorrow (Thursday 20th June).
The courts can be booked using the same system that was introduced in Kensington Gardens with the simple-to-use online booking system to ensure that you can enjoy the tennis facilities at a time convenient to you. Booking online requires having a free LTA Advantage account, which is also quick and simple to set up and gives you access a range of LTA resources and access to court bookings across the country.
If you have any issues with the online booking system or gaining access to the courts, please contact the Town Council.
Read more on Free-to-access tennis courts at Normanston Park to Open
