Civil Nights Festival Opening Night
Fri 22 May
|Woodbridge, St Mary the Virgin
Time & Location
22 May 2026, 18:30 – 22:30
Woodbridge, St Mary the Virgin, 11 Market Hill, Woodbridge IP12 4LP, UK
About the event
Leee John, platinum-selling singer of Imagination, is headlining a new festival in Woodbridge inspired by Thomas and John Clarkson
Leee John, the chart topping singer of pioneering British black music act Imagination and featured Gorillaz vocalist, is headlining a new festival series in Woodbridge, Suffolk, starting on Friday 22 May. The three week series celebrates Thomas and John Clarkson, the renowned anti-slavery campaigners that lived in and near Woodbridge, and the civil rights movements their legacy inspired.
The line-up of musical maestros at St Mary's Church will see Leee John appear with his new Jazz project, including Simple Minds drummer Mel Gaynor, Imagination and Sister Sledge pianist Dr. John Watson, Soweto Kinch and Jazz Warriors bassist Miles Danso and virtuoso Saxophonist Dave Mansell.
The night launches a campaign to create a permanent space to celebrate the legacy of the Clarksons, who founded two of the world's first civil rights movements,…