Visit Nowrich 8pg (ADS)
30/4/10
14:38
Page 1
A City of Culture NO one comes to Norwich by mistake. It’s not en route to somewhere else and it doesn’t pretend to be like any other city on the planet. Which is why so many of the people who live and work here come to be part of Norwich’s vibrant cultural scene. But it’s also a bit of a secret too. Did you know, for instance, that Norwich is home to one of the UK’s top five city arts festivals – the oldest of its kind in the UK? Did you know its reputation for great literature has bred a whole new generation of writers and literary events? Were you aware that Europe’s biggest digital screen gallery is permanently open and free and housed here in Norwich? Are you surprised that top West End shows, operas and ballets come to the city and attract audiences of nearly 380,000 every year? Have you missed Picasso and Henry Moore in their East Anglian setting? Just about everywhere you look in the city of Norwich you will see something of its prodigious appetite for culture and the arts. Visit Norwich during May and you will find a city where performing and visual arts are literally spilling out into the streets as Norfolk & Norwich Festival stages some 350 events and performances in the space of 16 heady days. A world-class cast of artists from all over the globe bring music, theatre, circus, dance, literature and visual arts to suit all ages and all tastes into the heart of the city. Shows, events and interventions take place in medieval churches, in state-of-the art theatres and music venues, a 1930s-style Spiegeltent and outside on street corners, transforming the city into one enormous playground. And what a playground! As architecturally varied as it is stunning, Norwich boasts not one but two cathedrals, medieval churches by the score, landmark modern architecture such as Sir Michael Hopkins’ imposing Forum building and hidden gems such as Dragon Hall, the Guildhall and winding lanes and alleyways full of independent cafes and bars.
From the Georgian Assembly House where you can take tea, see visual arts exhibitions or take in a lunchtime concert, to the iconic Castle standing proud over the city centre, to the Puppet Theatre – one of only two in the UK – where you can see a show or book a tailor-made workshop or Sir Norman Foster’s Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, there are ample ways for groups or individuals to enjoy unique experiences almost everywhere you look. Norwich Theatre Royal, completely refurbished in 2007, presents a wide-ranging programme of entertainment throughout the year, including touring productions of top musicals like Les Miserables and Chess, prestigious ballet and opera companies like Glyndebourne and the Northern Ballet Theatre, and also produces its own hugely popular annual pantomime in-house. If your first love is the written word, Writers’ Centre Norwich, an internationally respected organisation, hosts literary events throughout the year including the Worlds Literature Festival each summer. But at any time of the year, Norwich moves to the beat of its own drum – unique, confident, diverse, talented and truly exceptional – and yours for the taking. Norwich is bidding to become the first UK City of Culture in 2013 and has already been shortlisted for this prestigious title. See page 2 for some top cultural highlights.