Diversity & Difference

At Norfolk & Norwich Festival we believe that creativity should be accessible to everyone and is committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds, identities and experiences feel welcome, represented and valued.

We will seek to encourage dialogue and inspire change through our artistic and learning programmes, and in our work with artists, partners, networks and audiences. Find our our policies below…

HERE’S JUST A FEW OF THE THINGS WE’VE BEEN WORKING ON RECENTLY:

• Moved to Norwich Guildhall to enable us to provide an accessible space for staff and guests
• Set up a sub-group with representation across the organisation who meet every 6 weeks
• Spotlighting artists from diverse background by providing main stage platforms
• Co-commissioned work with Unlimited which will be showcased in the 2026 Festival
• Diversified our board and recruited Trustees with a broader range of experiences and skills
• Offered ticket concessions to our events for under 25s, Go4Less cardholders, D/deaf & disabled people, student and those on universal credit
• Developed an Artist residency programme to provide deeper experiences to artists from diverse backgrounds
• Adapted our recruitment process to be anonymous in order to remove unconscious bias
• Worked with local organisations to create a Buddy Scheme which provides volunteering opportunities to those who face barriers to taking part.
• Re-introduced an Access page in our brochure
• Created an Access page on our website and added access information to venues pages to help audiences plan their visit
• Assigning a budget to develop our EDI practice
• Provide regular update at team meetings and bi-annual refreshers on policy for all staff
• Have all event venues be step free
• Creating a large-print and audio brochure each year

WHAT ELSE DO WE PLAN TO DO?

• Update the webpage
• Work with Norwich Pride to open up the Guildhall in 2026
• Look into accessibility riders
• Having all films subtitled where artistically appropriate
• Continue to target key areas of need through our Festival Connect & Create work
• Further embed EDI into induction processes for new starters
• Continue to develop our networks to build knowledge on diverse communities
• Continue to interrogate data to understand where we could develop.
• Continue our understanding of audiences experiences to adopt good practice where possible
• Continue to support and inform audiences to make their experiences as valuable as possible

HOW AUDIENCES CAN HELP:

We realise that the performances we programme and how we use venues will change each year. We also have many shows happening for the first time at our Festival. While we try to communicate as much as we can, these factors can often mean there are many unknown details.

Where possible, we provide and gather details around access requirements at the point of booking. However, we understand that sometimes an access request will need specific information. Should a question be posed to us, we are happy to liaise with our team or event producers to see what is possible. We may not be able to accommodate everything but we’ll try.

Our staff aim to make your Festival experience as enjoyable and comfortable as possible. We welcome you to call our box office or email us on access@nnfestival.org.uk with any access questions or to better understand the venue details or content of a show and what may work for you.

Diversity and Difference

As well as anti-racism action, the Diversity & Difference group’s remit includes our commitments to ensuring that disabled artists and audiences, and artists and audiences from lower socio-economic backgrounds, are platformed and represented across the Festival’s work.

We are currently updating our learnings into a new Inclusion policy, whilst implementing a series of intersectional procedure changes aimed at improving our offer for audiences, artists and our workforce.

We commit to honestly updating this page as and when we have meaningful changes or findings to report.

Read our 2021-2022 Diversity Action Plan in full

Please note that the Diversity Action Plan includes terms that we now understand to be hurtful or inappropriate, such as BAME (as was highlighted in IncArt’s #BAMEOver campaign). Although we continue to use these terms for consistency’s sake, we will replace these terms in future documents and reporting.

Visit our Access Page