wELCOME wEEKEND

Featuring the best new outdoor shows… all for free!

AKADEMI PRAvAAS

South Asian promenade dance performance.

AVANTI DISPLAY CROW

Live music and a dreamlike world of illusion.

DULCE DUCA

UM BELO DIA Surrealistic comedy juggling.

JONES & BArNArD

WHAT PRICE DIGNITY?

Street theatre inspired by the cost of living crisis.

CANDOCO DANCE

NEW WORK BY JAMAAL BURKMAR

Duet dance performed by disabled and non-disabled dancers.

Then into the night on Saturday...

We’re popping-up across the city centre with a programme of free performance.

From theatre and dance to circus and comedy, we bring a little playful fun to the city’s streets as we celebrate the opening of this year’s Festival. Grab your eats and treats in the city’s cafes and restaurants to make a perfect day out for all the family. Check the website in May for more information.

GORILLA CIRCUS UNITY

JUST MOrE

PrODUCTIONS

FUSSY FOODIES: THE GAME

SHOW PART 2

Play some games and learn how food can tell histories.

TrIGGEr

TEABREAK wOrKING BOYS CLUB

Join Trigger for a cuppa, some amazing dance and the history of tea.

SERvING SOUNDS

Multi-sensory sound installation –a bar that serves bass rather than beer.

ACTION HErO

OH EUROPA

Since 2018, Action Hero have been travelling through Europe in their motorhome, recording strangers singing love songs. They invite you to come along and sing a love song to add to their archive and to be featured on BBC Radio Norfolk. Listen in on BBC Radio Norfolk on 22-26 May.

LOST & FOUND FILMS OF NOrFOLK

Enjoy a selection of films on Norfolk’s imagined history from children from the following schools: Norwich Primary Academy, Mile Cross Primary School, North Walsham Junior School, Ormiston Victory Academy, The Locksley School, St Nicholas Priory Primary School, Hewett Academy & Taverham High School.

Saturday 13 May, 9pm, Festival Gardens

Amazing aerial circus featuring dance trapeze, wire walking and hair hanging all accompanied by poetry.

Explore the city for a day of fun, then head to Festival Gardens for free music on the Band Stand, a bite to eat, a tasty drink and round off your evening with a bit of circus fun.

Free CIrCUS

Sponsored by Welcome Weekend is sponsored by

Norfolk and Norwich festival is a partner in Without Walls, a consortium of festivals and arts organisations bringing fantastic outdoor arts to people in towns and cities across England. Find out more on www.withoutwalls.com. Shows at the welcome weekend are co-commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival and a number of partners.

Supported by

‘An interesting blend of powerful political theatre and extraordinarily skilled circus’

Total Theatre Magazine

Unity © David Street

TAKESHI MATSUMOTO CLUB OrIGAMI

Tuesday 16 May, 1pm & 3pm

Wednesday 17 May, 11am & 1pm

Norwich Puppet Theatre

Rip, fold and scrumple!

Dive into the magical world of Club Origami, an immersive and interactive dance show inviting family audiences to create, imagine and explore whole new ways of thinking, playing and moving. Dance, fashion and live music meet the magic of origami to sweep us up on a spirited and inspiring adventure in a land made purely of paper and play.

Tickets £5

Ages 6 and under FAMILY

Sponsored by

Solem Quartet is an innovative and adventurous string quartet and one of the UK’s brightest artistic voices. We are happy to welcome them in residence this year, presenting three concerts of their work spanning Beethoven to Kate Bush. In addition to these concerts, Solem Quartet will offer coaching to talented young musicians in conjunction with Guildhall Young Artists Norwich.

SOLEM QUArTET

BEETHOvEN BARTóK NOW: COURAGE WITH FARAZ ESHGHI

Wednesday 17 May, 7.30pm

Octagon Chapel

Courage features historic final works from Beethoven and Bartók, but looks forward too: Bushra El-Turk’s new quintet, featuring kamancheh player Faraz Eshghi, is inspired by women and women’s rights in Iran.

Beethoven String Quartet No. 16, Op. 135

Bartók String Quartet no. 6 Bushra El-Turk Rostan, Rastan and Rast-Kara* (world premiere)

Tickets £20, £16 U18/YoungNNF Free

MUSIC

SOLEM QUArTET BEETHOvEN BARTóK NOW LIFE EPISODES

Thursday 25 May, 7.30pm

Octagon Chapel

Bringing together a world premiere from Edmund Finnis with music by Beethoven and Bartók, and beautiful filmed testimonies captured by Jessie Rodger, to create a one-off event, portraying survival, healing and rejuvenation.

Bartók String Quartet No. 2

Edmund Finnis String Quartet No. 3 ‘Devotions’ (world premiere)

Beethoven ‘Heiliger Dankgesang’ from String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132

Tickets £20, £16 U18/YoungNNF Free MUSIC

SOLEM QUArTET LATE WITH ALICE Z AWADZKI

Wednesday 24 May, 10pm

Adnams Spiegeltent

Two giant musical voices of the late twentieth century meet in this relaxed concert. Solem Quartet perform Steve Reich’s iconic Different Trains, and vocalist Alice Zawadzki joins them for songs by Kate Bush, newly arranged for string quartet and voice.

Tickets £16 U18/YoungNNF Free

MUSIC

Is it for me?

Grace Appleby from our partners at digital agency, Yawn reveals why the Festival is a voyage of discovery.

As Head of Partnerships at Yawn, I’ve been working closely with the Festival on their digital marketing activity. We’re all about ‘a fresh perspective’ and the opportunity for us to partner on this residency presentation was exciting. Solem Quartet sparked my interest straight away with Steve Reich and their new arrangements of Kate Bush. Hopefully the instant recognition of these popular names will make the thought of a classical music concert more accessible to a ‘greener’ audience. While the beauty of a string quartet can (and should) be enjoyed by all, the stereotypes and presuppositions surrounding classical music can mean that broad strokes of music lovers often assume that it is simply ‘not for them’.

I certainly never used to stray from the comfort of mainstream pop and rock until I studied Music at A-Level. Coincidentally, I had Reich’s Electric Counterpoint in the syllabus for my final exam and, through the almost hypnotic rhythms of his work, I found a love for a genre and artist that I would otherwise not have been introduced to.

For me, that’s the most important thing about NNF - the Festival offers everyone an opportunity to discover something new. However, the thing about experimenting is that we have no idea if we’ll like what we find and, in an age where we don’t always have the time or resources to take a gamble, I hope the reputation of the Festival will encourage folk to take a chance on a new experience.

With Kate Bush’s recent resurgence into the charts, and a whole new generation being introduced to Running Up That Hill, I hope the familiar name, if nothing else, will lure audiences into the wonderful performance by the Solem Quartet and, once inside, will be sold forever.