For 16 days this May, Norfolk & Norwich Festival brings the world to your doorstep, with a superb programme of theatre, circus, dance, music and visual arts from across the globe.
The Festival launches on 6 May with Andy Sheppard’s Saxophone Massive, a fanfare for 200 local saxophone players, followed by a weekend packed with free entertainment for families and children in Norwich City centre.
Highlights of the children’s programme include Black Sheep (of BBC1 Slammer fame) with Professor Bumm’s Story Machine, an opera for babies BabyO and Graeae’s The Iron Man based on the popular children’s story.
For more information: visit www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400.
6 May Andy Sheppard’s Saxophone Massive
Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich at 5.30pm.
Don’t miss the extraordinary Saxophone Massive led by acclaimed British saxophonist Andy Sheppard. More than 200 saxophonists from across Norfolk will come together to launch the Festival with this spectacular musical fanfare.
Free and unticketed.
7 May English Chamber Orchestra Workshop
Blackfriars Hall, Norwich from 10.30am - 1.15pm.
Bring your instrument and join professional musicians from the ECO and play to an audience of your friends, family and the public in St Andrews Hall! Any standard of ability welcome and percussion can be provided to participants without instruments.
Suitable for all ages. Free but booking is essential. To book email Roberta.wood@nnfestival.org.uk or call 01603 878286
7 & 8 May May Daze
Norwich City centre from 11.00am – 5.00pm.
Come and enjoy two days of circus, theatre, dance and music in and around Norwich city centre. Experience sensational performances from Always Drinking Marching Band, Tin House, Bob Percy and enjoy workshops from Bewilderwood and the Fairyland Trust.
Suitable for all ages.
Free and unticketed. For more information www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400.
7 & 8 May Professor Bumm’s Story Machine, The Black Sheep
Norwich Playhouse at 11.00am & 2.00pm.
Professor Bumm and his assistant Doctor Whee turn ideas from the audience into hilarious new stories. Following appearances on BBC1’s ‘The Slammer’ this crackpot hit comedy will have the whole family laughing.
Suitable for ages 6+. All tickets £6, from www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400.
11 May Gramoulinophone, 2 Rien Merci
Great Yarmouth Market Place at 10.30pm, 12.30pm & 2.30pm.
Come and discover the secret of the Gramoulinophone! 2 rien merci is a French company that combines the traditions of street arts and contemporary circus.
Suitable for ages 7+. Tickets available on the door.
12 & 13 May The Iron Man, Graeae Theatre Company
Millennium Plain at 4.30pm and 6.45pm on the 12th of May and at 1.45pm, 4.30pm and 6.45pm on the 13th of May.
An ensemble of deaf and disabled performers combine larger-than-life puppets, British sign language and audio description for a fresh take on Ted Hughe’s modern fairy tale.
Age 6+. Free and unticketed.
13 & 14 May Chouf Ouchouf, Zimmermann & de Perrot/Groupe Acrobatique de Tangier
Norwich Theatre Royal at 7.45pm.
Weaving together contemporary performance and traditional Moroccan acrobatics, Chouf Ouchouf is a witty and highly skilled evocation of the energy, joy and urgency of life in Tangiers.
Suitable for 7+. Tickets £23, £19, £14, £10, £5.50, U25s £5 from www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400.
14 May Museums at Night Special
Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery from 5.00pm – 10.00pm. Explore the nooks and crannies of this fascinating building, watching out for costume characters and have a go at creative crafts, talk to curators and get hands on with a range of wonderful museum objects.
Suitable for all ages. Free.
14 & 15 May 2-Dimensional Life of Her, Fleur Elise Noble
Playhouse Norwich at 11.00am, 3.00pm & 6.00pm each day.
Set in an artist’s studio, 2 Dimensional Life of Her imagines a rich, parallel world where drawings reproduce themselves, drift between surfaces and move in and out of three dimensions.
Suitable for 7+. All tickets £6 from www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400
14 &15 May Round the World in a Tea Kettle, Theatre Tineola
Norwich Puppet Theatre with performances at 2.30pm and 4.30pm on the 14th of May and at 11.30am and 2.30pm on the 15th of May. Experience the wonder of Edward Lear’s nonsensical humour in this entertaining puppet show for young and old alike. Inspired by his account of the travels of Kudykam and Tudytam, who travelled around the world in a tea-kettle, the performance follows our heroes as they visit a fascinating island.
Suitable for ages 3+. Tickets £8, children £6, www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400
14 & 15 May That’s The Way To Do It!
Cromer sea front by the pier in three parts at 12 noon, 2.00pm and 4.00pm.
Alternative punch and Judy from Red Herring, where the characters break out of the booth to wreak havoc in the streets and act as vehicles for a satirical take on our anxious, credit crunched world.
Suitable for all ages. Free and unticketed.
14 May The Proportions of The Temple, The Voice Project Choir
Norwich City Cathedral at 8.00pm.
The city’s 900-year-old Cathedral is the subject of this year’s Festival commission for Norwich’s renowned open-access choir. The Proportions of the Temple is inspired by the architecture, human history and stories woven into the fabric of this iconic building.
Tickets £19, £14, £10, £7, U25s £5, www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400.
15 – 21 May The Knowledge Emporium by Slung Low
Millennium Plain and Chapelfield Plain from 1-5pm each day and with closing performances on the 20th and 21st at 6.00pm.
The Knowledge Emporium is an old fashioned sweetshop which invites you to share with it a fact or secret and in return allows you to help yourself to its confectionary. The knowledge collected is then used by Slung Low to create a performance at the end of the week.
Free and unticketed.
18 – 22 May SEASAW, Tilted Productions
Cromer Seafront. 18th May 2.00pm & 4.00pm, 19th May 2.30pm & 4.30pm, 20th May 3.30pm & 5.30pm, 21st May 4.00pm & 6.00pm, 22nd May 4.45pm & 6.45pm.
An outdoor trail of dance, performance and theatre snippets, SEASAW is inspired by what the sea and its shores mean to us, and promises to surprise, challenge and entertain.
Free, but booking is essential. Tickets www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400 (tickets also available at Cromer Tourist Information Centre)
19 – 21 May Baby O, Scottish Opera
The Garage, Norwich with performances at 10.30am, 11.30am & 1.30pm.
BabyO is an ideal first musical experience for you and your baby to enjoy. The show seamlessly combines music, sounds and words that babies can understand, helping to stimulate early language development.
Suitable for babies aged 6-18 months old. Tickets £6 adults, £4 baby from www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400
21 May Children’s Choice Awards, Mamallian Diving Reflex
Norwich Playhouse at 3.30pm.
A group of year 7 pupils from City Academy, Norwich, will be chauffeured between events, judging and reviewing shows before hosting a glittering award ceremony at the end of the Festival.
Free but tickets must be booked in advance www.nnfestival.org.uk/nnf11 or by phone 01603 766400
21 May As The World Tipped, Wired Aerial
Eaton Park, Norwich at 10.15pm.
Combining dramatic video visuals with breathtaking aerial performance, As The World Tipped confronts one of the most pressing issues for the planet with spectacle, humour and emotion. Free and unticketed.
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