David Ruffley MP will be attending the Beating Retreat ceremony and the launch of the Bury Festival on Friday 8 May at 6.30pm.

The 24th Bury St Edmunds Festival will open on Friday, May 8, with the traditional Beating Retreat ceremony on Angel Hill, which will be performed by the Band of the Royal Parachute Regiment.

David said:

'Each year it gets harder to believe that the Bury St Edmunds Festival will improve on the previous year's remarkable events. However, year on year it gets better, this is because of the hard work put in by everyone involved at St Edmundsbury Borough Council and across Bury St Edmunds.

'It is always a pleasure to watch the Beating Retreat ceremony and this year it will be wonderful to see the Band of the Royal Parachute Regiment delighting the crowds on Angel Hill.

'The sense of civic pride in Bury St Edmunds always impresses me and this coming Friday will be no different. I can think of no better way to launch the Bury Festival than such a public display of support for our armed forces.

'Festival organisers have an exciting programme of events planned and the 2009 festival will, for the first time, feature two drive-in movies at Rougham airfield with screenings of Dirty Dancing on May 8 and Mamma Mia on May 9.'