10-26 May
Become a FriendWelcome Weekend
Saturday 11 May, 1-6pm & Sunday 12 May, 11am-4pm
Norwich City Centre
FREE
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.
Important information
Venue: Norwich City Centre
Saturday 11 May
NoFit State Circus - Bamboo
Saturday 11 May, 1-1.45pm & 4.30-5.15pm (Cathedral Close)
An improbable circus playground that defies the laws of physics.
Raggle Taggle Arts - Betty Brown Bags
Saturday 11 May, 2.15-2.45pm & 4-4.30pm (Cathedral Close)
An all singing, all dancing, spoon playing interactive show, inspired by a traditional folk play from Lancashire.
Bureau of Silly Ideas - Island Storms
Saturday 11 May, 1.45-2.30pm & 4.30-5.15pm (Motorcycle Park, above Norwich Market)
Circus, fun and stunts in a magical arcade action world. Help a surviving family rebuild their watery empire.
Tit for Tat Circus - Now I Am Become d/Deaf (Destroyer of Words)
Saturday 11 May, 1.45-2.15pm & 5.15-5.45pm (Cathedral Close)
An exploration of identity and hearing loss through circus.
Sam Goodburn - Wire Attire
Saturday 11 May, 2.45-3.25pm & 5.20—6pm (The Forum, Millennium Plain)
A journey of one man’s quest to put on his clothes, eat biscuits and unicycle across a tight wire.
Crooked Timber Theatre & Gemma Khawaja - Up Jumped the Crab: A Story Of Cromer Now & Then
Saturday 11 May, 1-1.30pm, 2.30-3pm, 3.45-4.15pm & 5-5.30pm (St Giles Street)
A charming puppet story in miniature showing a day at sea with the real Cromer crab fishermen of North Norfolk.
Mechanimal - Crap at Animals
Saturday 11 May, 1-1.45pm & 5-5.45pm Installation 1.45am-5pm (Elm Hill Loke)
One guy tries heroically, and fails epically, to do impressions of 50,000 rare animals in under an hour.
Das Brass
Walkabout through the city; starting points:
Saturday 11 May
2-2.30pm London St / Castle St junction
3-3.30pm The Forum – Millennium Plain
5-5.30pm Gentlemen’s Walk
The vibrant pulse of New Orleans tunes, sprinkled with London’s distinctive swagger.
Norwich Puppet Theatre - Bugs and Beetles Puppet Making Workshop
Saturday 11 May, 1—6pm (The Forum, Millennium Plain)
Sunday 12 May, 11am—4pm (The Forum, Millennium Plain)
Create your own bug or beetle themed puppet. Let your imaginations run wild with ladybirds, caterpillars, spiders and stick insect.
(Workshop fee £6 per puppet)
Freshly Greated - Joyland Snails
Saturday 11 May, 1-6pm (Across the city)
Great Yarmouth’s iconic snails from Joyland will be exploring the city all weekend.
Guildhall Sessions
Saturday 11 May, 11am-6pm
Enjoy six new music films screened in Norwich Guildhall.
Variable Matter - World Kiosk
Saturday 11 May, 1-6pm (Tombland)
An intimate digital sound and light installation.
Freshly Greated - Great Postcards From Yarmouth
Saturday 11 May, 1-6pm (Across the city)
Interact with hand-made cut-outs celebrating what makes Yarmouth great.
From Sat 4 May for 2 weeks, jump on a bus between Norwich and Great Yarmouth and spot the hand-made postcards made by Matthew Harrison with members of the community from Great Yarmouth.
Dot Howard & Sorrel Muggridge - Handful of Time
Saturday 11 May, 1-6pm (Norwich Guildhall)
A traveling exhibition of clay artworks made to be handled with care.
Come and make a unique clay cast of the space inside your own hand, which will be burnished and fired by the artists and added to the collection, to be exhibited later in 2024.
Sunday 12 May
Raggle Taggle Arts - Betty Brown Bags
Sunday 12 May, 12.45-1.15pm & 3.15-3.45pm (London St/Castle St junction)
An all singing, all dancing, spoon playing interactive show, inspired by a traditional folk play from Lancashire.
Bureau of Silly Ideas - Island Storms
Sunday 12 May, 12-12.45pm & 2.30-3.15pm (Motorcycle Park, above Norwich Market)
Circus, fun and stunts in a magical arcade action world. Help a surviving family rebuild their watery empire.
Tit for Tat Circus - Now I Am Become d/Deaf (Destroyer of Words)
Sunday 12 May, 12-12.30pm & 2.45-3.15pm (The Forum – Theatre Plain)
An exploration of identity and hearing loss through circus.
Sam Goodburn - Wire Attire
Sunday 12 May, 12.45-1.25pm & 3.15-3.55pm (The Forum, Millennium Plain)
A journey of one man’s quest to put on his clothes, eat biscuits and unicycle across a tight wire.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles - Patois
Sunday 12 May, 11.30am-12 noon & 2-2.30pm (The Forum – Millennium Plain)
What happens when two unwritten languages, dance and patois, meet?
Crooked Timber Theatre & Gemma Khawaja - Up Jumped the Crab: A Story Of Cromer Now & Then
Sunday 12 May, 11-11.30am & 1.15—1.45pm (St Giles Street)
A charming puppet story in miniature showing a day at sea with the real Cromer crab fishermen of North Norfolk.
Mechanimal - Crap at Animals
Sunday 12 May, 11-11.45am & 5-5.45pm Installation 11.45am-3pm (Elm Hill Loke)
One guy tries heroically, and fails epically, to do impressions of 50,000 rare animals in under an hour.
Das Brass
Walkabout through the city; starting points:
Sunday 12 May
11-11.30am Gentlemen’s Walk
1.15-1.45pm Gentlemen’s Walk
2.15-2.45pm London St / Castle St junction
The vibrant pulse of New Orleans tunes, sprinkled with London’s distinctive swagger.
Norwich Puppet Theatre - Bugs and Beetles Puppet Making Workshop
Sunday 12 May, 11am—4pm (The Forum, Millennium Plain)
Create your own bug or beetle themed puppet. Let your imaginations run wild with ladybirds, caterpillars, spiders and stick insect.
(Workshop fee £6 per puppet)
Freshly Greated - Joyland Snails
Sunday 12 May, 11am-4pm (Across the city)
Great Yarmouth’s iconic snails from Joyland will be exploring the city all weekend.
Guildhall Sessions
Sunday 12 May, 11am-4pm
Enjoy six new music films screened in Norwich Guildhall.
Variable Matter - World Kiosk
Sunday 12 May, 11am-4pm (Tombland)
An intimate digital sound and light installation.
Freshly Greated - Great Postcards From Yarmouth
Sunday 12 May, 11am-4pm (Across the city)
Interact with hand-made cut-outs celebrating what makes Yarmouth great.
From Sat 4 May for 2 weeks, jump on a bus between Norwich and Great Yarmouth and spot the hand-made postcards made by Matthew Harrison with members of the community from Great Yarmouth.
Dot Howard & Sorrel Muggridge - Handful of Time
Sunday 12 May, 11am-4pm (Norwich Guildhall)
A traveling exhibition of clay artworks made to be handled with care.
Come and make a unique clay cast of the space inside your own hand, which will be burnished and fired by the artists and added to the collection, to be exhibited later in 2024.
Tickets: This is a non-ticketed event
FREE
Supported by the Paul Bassham Charitable Trust
Free Outdoor Programme Partner
Norfolk & 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.
Bureau of Silly Ideas
Watercycle is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival and Brighton Festival. The R&D for Watercycle was supported by Blueprint: Without Walls R&D Investment Fund.
Jeanefer Jean-Charles & Associates
Patois is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by FESTIVAL.ORG for Greenwich+Docklands International Festival, Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Brighton Festival.
NoFit State Circus
BAMBOO. A NoFit State production directed by Mish Weaver, in collaboration with Orit Azaz and Imagineer Productions. It is supported by the Arts Council of Wales, the Foyle Foundation, and Without Walls, and commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Hat Fair and Timber Festival.
Phoebe Ophelia Company
Betty Brown Bags is supported by Without Walls.
Tit for Tat Circus
Now I am Become Deaf (Destroyer of Words) is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Just So Festival and Hat Fair.
Tom Bailey – Mechanimal
Crap at Animals is supported by Without Walls and commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival.
Variable Matter
World Kiosk is supported by Without Walls and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Commissioned by Brighton Festival and Havering Changing.
Image credit: Bamboo © Jon Street