Ipswich Central launches Constable 250 inspired ‘Young Artist’ competition and children’s art trail

Ipswich Central and Harvest Moon in St Peter’s Street have joined forces to create a special Constable 250 inspired art trail and colouring competition for children in Ipswich town centre. 

The landscape colouring competition, for budding young local artists, is inspired by Suffolk artist John Constable’s world-famous painting The Hay Wain which is on display Christchurch Mansion until 4 October. The Saints sticker hunt and activity sheet is also art-inspired with Constable in mind.

Produced by Flynn Squirrell, owner and manager of Harvest Moon vegan café in St Peter’s Street, the art trail and sticker hunt is a fun activity for parents with young children to complete as a free to enjoy activity around local independent businesses in a historic part of the town centre.

Six businesses in St Peter’s Street and St Nicholas’ Street now have art themed stickers behind the counter, the challenge is to visit businesses, find and collect all six stickers to complete the sheet! 

The reverse of the trail sheet has a wordsearch and two observation questions to answer too. Trail sheets can be collected from Harvest Moon during café opening hours, simply complete the trail, return to Harvest Moon once the sheet is complete and receive a free Constable 250 badge, kindly donated by the Ipswich Museums team at Christchurch Mansion.

A Constable-inspired Landscape drawing competition for aspiring young artists is also now open, with entries welcome until 4 October 2026 – when the Hay Wain leaves Ipswich and returns to London. 

To enter the competition, visit Harvest Moon and collect a Constable 250 A4 Drawing competition entry sheet (one entry per child), create a Constable-inspired landscape complete the contact details on the reverse and hand in to a *participating venue before the closing date on 4 October 2026. 

There are three age categories: 6 and under, 7-12 and 13+, and three super art-themed goodie bag prizes for the winners. All entries will be collected on 5 October before judging takes place. Winners will be notified and presented with prizes during half-term week at the end of October 2026.

Melanie Willis, Communications Manager at Ipswich Central, said: “When Flynn at Harvest Moon came to us with the idea for a trail around local businesses for families with young children, inspired by Constable, we thought this was a lovely family activity to support in the town centre. 

“The young artist colouring competition alongside it uses The Hay Wain as inspiration for new landscape paintings by the next generation of local artists, ahead of the Contemporary Constable exhibition in Christchurch Mansion this autumn/winter.”

Flynn Squirrell, Owner Manager at Harvest Moon, said: “It’s been great working with Ipswich Central to bring The Saints sticker hunt and art trail idea to life as a free community activity for parents with young children.

“As a small independent business in a historic part of the town, activities like this are a simple yet effective way of encouraging new visitors into town and for businesses to engage with potential new customers in a fun, family-friendly way. We look forward to seeing youngsters pop in for trail cards and paint their own landscapes inspired by Constable.”

For the colouring competition, a panel of independent judges will choose the three winners, with the three new masterpieces put on public display inside Harvest Moon for all to see. Each of the three winners will be presented with a Constable 250 goodie bag full of fantastic prizes.

*The five participating venues with Young Artist drawing competition entry sheets are Harvest Moon (St Peter’s Street), Ipswich County Library (Northgate Street), The Hold – Suffolk Archives (near Ipswich Waterfront), Bishops Cafe and Tea Rooms (inside Holywells Park) and Christchurch Mansion.

Enquiries about The Saints trail should be directed to Flynn Squirrell at Harvest Moon, email: info@harvestmoonsuffolk.com Harvest Moon’s opening hours: Monday – Friday (closed Tuesday) 08:00-16:00, Saturday 09:00-16:00 and Sunday 10:00-16:00 or follow @harvestmoon.suffolk on Instagram.
Enquiries about the Constable 250 ‘Young Artist’ competition should be directed to Melanie Willis, Communications Manager at Ipswich Central, email: melanie@locusms.com or call 07718 699917

To read more about Constable 250 events and why Ipswich, county town of Suffolk, was important to Constable visit this trip on the All About Ipswich website at allaboutipswich.com/collection/constable-250/