Thousands of fans from across the globe began queuing early on Friday morning ahead of Ed Sheeran’s much-anticipated homecoming shows in Ipswich. The 34-year-old singer is set to perform three nights at Portman Road – the stadium of Ipswich Town Football Club, which he both supports and has previously sponsored. Concertgoers have travelled from as far afield as the United States to witness the performances, taking place from Friday through Sunday.
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Among those eager to attend was Hayley Judge, a tribute act from south London who claims to be the only female Ed Sheeran impersonator. Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk, Judge expressed her excitement about hearing his latest material, though she said 2011 hit The A Team remained her personal favourite. She shared: “I used to run an open mic night, and someone played The A Team. I thought, ‘That’s an amazing song’. That’s when I started following Ed, learning his songs and using a loop station just like he did.”
Judge has met Sheeran on three occasions, most recently after winning a competition to join him on a pink bus around London to celebrate the release of Azizam. “It was a really intimate gig,” she recalled. “He even told me he’d seen my cover of Azizam and asked how the tribute act was going. I joked about doing a duet one day, and he replied, ‘Yeah, let’s do it today’ – but sadly the day was too packed.”
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The Ipswich shows will feature a rotating line-up of support acts, with Myles Smith and Tori Kelly performing on 11 July, followed by Busted and Dylan on the 12th, and James Blunt alongside Maisie Peters on the 13th. The concerts come on the heels of Sheeran’s announcement of his eighth studio album, Play, due out in September. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Sheeran grew up in Framingham Earl, Suffolk. He now holds a minority stake in Ipswich Town, who were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2024–25 season. His recent artwork exhibition, Cosmic Carpark Paintings, also opened in London this week.
