Summer is being ushered in by the arrival of the brilliant Norfolk & Norwich Festival – 17 days of music, performance, circus, literature and free outdoor arts…
Opening TODAY and continuing until the 29th May, you don’t want to miss out on an array of exciting things to do around the county and city.
The Norfolk and Norwich festival is one of the oldest city festivals in England, it was first held in 1824, but its roots can be traced even further back to 1772!
GRIT is a huge fan of the festival and here are top picks from some of the team, although we hope to visit as many as possible…
Sonia Soomessur
There are so many events that I want to try and fit in. I’ve never attended the N&N Festival before so I want to make the most of it, especially with the weather looking good at the moment. I think that the Dominoes look like a lot of fun and a great way to kick off the event. Dominoes travels through the city centre, it starts at Anglia Square and finishes at The Forum, so I’m planning on finding a spot along the route to watch the dominoes topple.
Benedict Brunsden
I moved to Norwich from Leeds in May last year, before everything was fully up and running so I’m really looking forward to exploring the N&N Festival. I’m really interested in all art forms and although I’m an Account/Project Manager with GRIT, my background is in graphic design having previously been Creative Media & Design Manager. I really like how arty Norwich is and I’ve been driving out to enjoy Norfolk’s beautiful coastline at the weekends with my dog Barnaby. I was really keen to see Workout! by Lewis Buxton, but unfortunately it’s already sold out, so I’m going to make sure I get to see DAT BRASS instead.
Aisha Singleton
I love that the N&N Festival is a largely free event open to everyone, it really epitomises what Norwich is all about, and I’m excited to take my four-year-old to as many events as possible. A friend bought him the Billy and The Beast book, so I hope that we can catch that performance. I’m also hoping to take him along to some of The Band Stand as they’re on everyday at 7:30pm and 9:30pm from 13-17 May.
Will Corner
I’m a member of a group called ‘Blind Cat Books’ formed by attendees of the National Centre for Writing’s Intermediate Fiction course. Since the National Centre for Writing is based in Norwich at Dragon Hall, the N&N Festival has a lot of literary events. This year, along with some members of my group, I’m attending talks by Mieko Kawakami and Kit de Waal, and the immersive installation Deception Island. I also plan to do the Wondering Words guided walking tour which is particularly interesting to me since my own writing project involves a series of scenes unfolding across a map of Norwich.
Emma Hayden
I saw the House Gospel Choir at the N&N Festival back in 2015 and was blown away by the energy they brought to the stage – that was certainly a night to remember! While I was disappointed they weren’t back for this year’s festival, I’m super excited to see what Hermeto Pascoal and The National Youth Jazz Orchestra have to offer. We are so lucky to have such incredible acts grace our Fine City.