Your Town, My Town, Our Town

The second year of the programme is now underway, and the Festival Connect & Create team have formed an advisory group, the Cultural Connectors, made up of local young people, council, teachers, and arts organisations, to assist in developing the programme. The team are always on the lookout for local young people to join the group! if that sounds like you, you can fill out a quick expression of interest form and the team will get back to you about their next meeting: https://r1.dotdigital-pages.com/p/5HR0-I8E/cultural-connectors

SOUNDYARD

In August, the team worked with SOUNDYARD and the Swaffham Cultural Consortium to run a workshop on Oral Histories for young people in Swaffham. The workshop helped teach key techniques and technical skills of how to create an impactful interview. The young people then tested their new skills at the local Artisan Fayre, where they interviewed artisans and performers alike about their experiences. These interviews will be stored and made available to the public at Swaffham Museum in Autumn 2025.

Victoria Melody

Over the course of the year, the Cultural Connectors have been meeting to plan the next two years of the programme. The decision was made to commission an artist to work over 18 months in the town, embedding themselves in the community and getting to know its residents, in order to create an impactful and engaging project for the children, young people, and community of Swaffham. We’re thrilled to announce that artist, performer, and anthropologist Victoria Melody has been chosen to lead this work. Alongside other exciting festival projects in Swaffham, Victoria will be working with the community up to the culmination of the programme in March 2027.

About Victoria

Victoria Melody is an award-winning British artist with a passion for other people’s passions. Her work is rooted in playful, human-centred storytelling and combines meticulous research with on-the-ground community engagement, creating pieces that are accessible, witty, and deeply moving. She embeds herself in unique subcultures, becoming an active participant in their rituals, then blends documentary techniques with theatrical performance to give a voice to these often-overlooked stories.

“I am thrilled to receive this commission. I have long admired Norfolk & Norwich Festival for the way it brings together international artists and hyper-local communities. We share the belief that community collaboration should never be a tick-box exercise, but an opportunity to create art of the highest quality, work that stands proudly on an international stage.

My practice is bespoke, collaborative, and rooted in deep listening. I don’t arrive with a fixed idea or impose an artistic vision. Instead, I spend time with people, embed myself in a place, and work with communities to discover what matters most to them. I believe everyone has it in them to be an artist and my role is to help people realise that.

I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and start working with the young people of Swaffham. We’re going to have so much fun creating something that is not only artistically strong but also truly theirs, something they can feel proud to have been part of.”

We’ll keep this page updated with the latest news on the programme as Victoria’s work develops.