Children In Need

The BBC tries to alternate the service between east and west Suffolk - so this year it's the grand setting of St Mary's - just along the road from St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

BBC Radio Suffolk's Sunday breakfast show presenter Rachel Sloane says the venue provides as grand a setting as previous carol concerts at the cathedral or Snape Maltings: "I know it will be a fabulous evening. The church is a stunning building where concerts are often held and its position right in the centre of the town means that it is easy to find."

The music will be provided by St Mary's Church Choir & Organ, Beyton Middle School Choir, Stowmarket Salvation Army Songsters and 'Swing Machine', who're a Suffolk based swing band. The musical director will be Peter Tryon, who's the choirmaster at St Mary's and Beyton, and there will be plenty of opportunities for everyone to raise the roof singing traditional Christmas carols.

Some of your favourite BBC Radio Suffolk presenters will be doing the seasonal readings – both thoughtful and amusing. As always the whole evening will be recorded by our engineer, David Butcher, and musical highlights will be broadcast on Christmas Day.

Rachel is the show's producer and compere: "We expect to have a choir of nearly one hundred and hope to have up to eight hundred in the audience. So many people say that Christmas begins with the BBC Radio Suffolk Children in Need Carol Concert. The rumour is that Pudsey Bear may also make an appearance on the night that each year raises hundreds of pounds for his charity." 

Tickets from the Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal Box Office 01284 769505 - £10 (adults) and £8 (under-16s).