The Ipswich Women's Festival Group aims were to research and celebrate local women's achievements - organizing events and developing resources such as the Ipswich Women's History Trail.

The earliest iteration of the group developed in the 1980s when it held various women's festivals in the town. It builds on the work done by a Community Education Local Women's History Group in the 1990s, which compiled the first leaflet, and also held an exhibition of Women and Work.

In 2011, the group decided to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Census Boycott, when 30 local women avoided completing their Census forms by staying at the Old Museum Rooms overnight in a campaign to get Votes for Women. Almost 150 women came to the site of that action (now Arlington's Brasserie) for dinner, talks and singing.

The Ipswich Women's History Trail was launched by Councillor Mary Blake (the Mayor of Ipswich) at Ipswich Tourist Information Centre on 18 October 2012. The Ipswich Women's Festival Group produced the booklet in collaboration with Ipswich Borough Council and is now part of their town trail collection.

To celebrate the trail and as part of Ip-Art 2013, an Afternoon Tea and Talk took place at Arlingtons Brasserie on 23rd June 2013.

From September 2024, the group has been reinvigorated and rebranded as the Suffolk Women's History Network. With similar aims to its predecessor, this new group aims to expand its reach and encompass the entirety of Suffolk and all who dwell within it, both past and present.

 

Past Events by the IWFG: