Carnival Monday, 17 August, closes the High Street and Market Cross Place. Kings Field and Queens Field cost £10 all day from 8am, and shuttle buses run from 10am.

Aldeburgh Carnival runs from Saturday 15 August to Monday 17 August, and the town’s parking rules change substantially for the final day. (Aldeburgh Carnival)

On Carnival Saturday there are no parking restrictions and the usual street parking and car parks are open, though the organisers warn that space is limited once the town fills up. Buses run a normal service. The events listed for Saturday are a music event, a duck race, giant kite flying and a treasure hunt. (Aldeburgh Carnival, 2026 line-up)

Sunday: the 10K, and Market Cross Place shuts

The 10K mini marathon assembles outside the Moot Hall from 9.45am and starts at 10am. Registration on the day is at the greens north of the Moot Hall between 9am and 9.45am, and online entry closes at 4pm on Saturday 15 August. It costs £13.50 online plus a 54p admin fee, or £15 on the day; entry is free for juniors under 14, whose forms must be countersigned by the adult responsible for them. There are no dogs, because the route includes a beach section at Thorpeness. Medals are presented by the Mayor by noon and trophies go to the first male, first female, first junior boy and first junior girl on the Moot Hall steps at midday. (Aldeburgh Carnival, 10K mini marathon)

Market Cross Place is closed to traffic for the race. The carnival’s race page gives the closure as 9.30am to 11.45am and its travel page gives it as 9.45am to 11.45am, so allow for the earlier time. Nothing else in the town is restricted on Sunday.

Also on Sunday: Punch and Judy, the waiters’ race, a duck race, an egg boat race and Songs of Praise.

Carnival Monday: what closes, and when

Timeline of Carnival Monday in Aldeburgh: car parks open at 8am, no parking on Market Cross Place from 10am, shuttle buses from 10am, no parking on the High Street from 11am, shuttles pause at 2.15pm, restart at 4pm and finish at 6pm.

The carnival’s travel page carries what it calls a highway authority notice, listing a long set of no-parking streets for Carnival Day. It warns that breaches “will result in a fixed penalty fine or prosecution and unlawfully parked vehicles may be towed away”. (Aldeburgh Carnival, parking and travel)

No parking on Carnival Monday: Alde Lane (entire length), Church Farm Road (entire length, both sides), Crabbe Street from Market Cross Place to Dial Lane, Crag Path from Market Cross Place north and south to the bollards, Crespigny Road, Dial Lane, the High Street from 11am (entire length), Hertford Place, Leiston Road from the roundabout to Mariners Way, Lee Road (entire length, except the east side from Park Lane to Hartington Road), Market Cross Place from 10am (entire length), Oakley Square (disabled parking only), Park Road from Victoria Road to Queens Field and from the High Street to Lee Road, Saxmundham Road from the roundabout to Fairfield Road, Slaughden Road from the High Street junction to the boatyard, Thorpeness Road from the Wentworth Road junction to Haven House on both sides, St Peters Road and St Pauls Close, and Victoria Road.

Closed to traffic: Market Cross Place. Crabbe Street, Crespigny Road, Choppings Hill, the High Street, Slaughden Road and Victoria Road from the Mill Inn to the High Street are closed as needed for the procession forming up, for the carnival and lantern processions, and for the evening entertainment. Parts of Lee Road, Park Road and Slaughden Road are used for the procession turnaround.

Where to park. Kings Field and Queens Field are the carnival car parks, £10 all day from 8am, taking card or cash. The church car park is closed to parking. Oakley Square has a limited number of disabled spaces, pay and display, bookable on 01728 830516, and is also the cycle park. Thorpe Road traffic must leave via Thorpeness in the evening.

Buses. Shuttle buses run from Triangle Wood, near the library, to Wentworth Road via Victoria Road, returning via Church Farm Road, from 10am to 2.15pm and again from 4pm to 6pm. A second shuttle runs from Triangle Wood to Oakley Square for people with accessible transport needs, on 01728 830516. First bus routes 64 and 65 terminate at the Saxmundham Road and Leiston Road roundabout, and Border Bus route 521 uses temporary stops in Wentworth Road and at the Dolphin Inn in Thorpeness.

Monday’s programme runs from the fair weather rocket and swimming races in the morning through the lifeboat launch, decorated premises, pipe band, Carnival Queen and the procession, to a samba and street disco, a lantern procession and fireworks.

One thing to check before you set off

The carnival’s parking and travel page still carries last year’s date labels: it heads the 10K section “Sunday 18 August” and the Carnival Day section “Monday 18 August”, which were the 2025 dates. The 2026 dates given elsewhere on the same site, including in the page’s own footer, are Saturday 15 to Monday 17 August. The street lists and the times above are what the page publishes; if you are relying on a specific street, it is worth checking the signs on the day, which are the legal position.

What it means for you

If you live inside the no-parking streets, move the car on Sunday evening rather than early on Monday, because the High Street restriction starts at 11am and Market Cross Place at 10am, well before the afternoon procession. If you are driving in, the £10 fields open at 8am and the shuttle starts at 10am, so arriving before mid-morning is the difference between parking and circling.

If you are coming from the Woodbridge side, the A12 has its own Sizewell C works to allow for: see our running list of current closures and diversions. For the rest of the summer, our guide to things to do around Woodbridge has the practical details on the other coastal days out.