A SPECTACULAR festival is being ramped up to new heights to kick-start next year’s once in a generation Mayflower ship anniversary.

People from far and wide are being invited to Harwich’s Illuminate Festival next month which will mark the start a year of worldwide Mayflower 400 festivities.

The event will be taking place in Harwich Quay on Friday, November 29 and Saturday, November 30.

Next year will mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower to America carrying the pilgrim fathers.

Harwich has a strong link to the Mayflower, as home of the ship and its captain, Christopher Jones, whose house still stands in King’s Head Street.

For this reason, Harwich is part of the Mayflower 400 Compact, which is an international group of destinations linked to the story.

The Illuminate Festival, hosted by Steve Scruton and Ian Wyatt, will include some incredible live entertainment with some unique acts, as well as immersive projections across Harwich Quay with a sound and light show.

The central part of the festival will be the Illuminate Parade on the Friday evening, with crowds gathering from 5pm to assemble.

Saturday will have a more relaxed, festival feel with music hosted by Steve and Ian from 3pm, who are best known for hosting Radio Airshow and their regular BBC Essex programmes.

However, a fireworks flight from the Fireflies, who are a favourite in the Clacton Airshow twilight display, will be taking to the skies for crowds to see at 4.15pm.

Both nights will come to an end at about 10pm.

Alex Porter, Tendring Council’s councillor responsible for leisure and tourism, is encouraging people to come along for a fun two days of festivities, and to support the launch of Mayflower 400.

He said: “I invite everyone to come and be part of the launch of a year-long commemoration, which is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Harwich to reignite its historical connection with the Mayflower story.

“There is so much planned in and around Harwich over the coming year it really promises to be an extraordinary 12 months, and this Illuminate Festival is the perfect way to kick it all off.”

For more details on the festival, visit historicharwich.co.uk.