One of the UK’s oldest festivals kicks off its 2025 edition this week, with dozens of events around Norwich and venues across Norfolk. We’ve picked out a few festival highlights.
For the full programme, ticket details, and bookings visit https://nnfestival.org.uk/
Friday 9 May to Sunday 11 May: High Voltage and Welcome Weekend
The festival kicks off with some free large scale events. On Friday at 6pm, Australian artists Joseph O’Farrell and Sam Halmarack present a modern-day mash up of dance, music and performance, with hundreds of local people playing guitar in a procession starting at The Forum in Norwich.
Then from 12pm to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday the festival’s Welcome Weekend will bring music, acrobatics, puppets and more to outdoor stages across the city centre.
Saturday 10 May: An Evening With Gilles Peterson
Broadcaster, DJ and record collector, Gilles Peterson takes part in a unique sit-down evening in which he will play and chat about some of his favourite sounds past, present and future – like a radio programme in front of your eyes, from the nave of Norwich Cathedral.
Sunday 11 May: The Norwich Nine
The Norwich Nine is an intergenerational collaboration between Bootworks Theatre Co. and a local group of nine-year-old children. The project seeks to amplify the voices of young people and share their thoughts on the world that they live in.
Tuesday 13 & Wednesday 14 May: Gandini Juggling – Heka
Drawing inspiration from the intricate connection between juggling and magic, Heka – named after the Egyptian goddess of magic – promises to offer spectators a journey where objects materialise and vanish, levitate, and transform before their eyes. Yet, beneath the surface lies a tantalising question: what is real and what is merely a trick of perception?
Wednesday 14 May: Chaos String Quartet
The multi-award-winning Chaos String Quartet, featuring musicians from Germany, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands, return to the Festival for a second year. Their Octagon Chapel set will include Haydn’s String Quartet in G minor, Op. 20, No. 5; Francesca Verunelli’s String Quartet No.2; and Beethoven’s String Quartet in G major, Op. 18, No. 2.
Wednesday 14 to Sunday 25 May: Upswing – Showdown
Six acrobats. One winner. Who will be the “new face of circus”? The festival’s Spiegeltent centrepiece mixes circus stunts with humour in a one-of-a-kind competition where the audience is invited to vote for their favourite. Six fearless contestants push their limits in a no-holds-barred race to the top, all for the promise of a single prize.
Friday 16 to Saturday 24 May: Vincent Gambini – Close-Up
Gambini returns to the festival with a close-up magic performance for one spectator at a time. Inside a café, surrounded by unsuspecting customers, you are invited to sit at a table and watch a 15-minute performance, listening to the performer’s voice and the sounds of the café on headphones.
Sunday 18 May: Ragroof Tea Dance Carmen’s Cantina
Vintage music, glamorous costumes, glorious dance displays, and the chance for everyone to trip the light fantastic in a festival stalwart! This year Carmen’s Cantina will offer the sunshine-fuelled rhythms of the Spanish diaspora – from Paso Doble and Tango to Salsa, Mambo and Merengue. Everyone is welcome, no partners needed.
Sunday 18 May: The Paper Cinema – Rock Charmer and Night Flyer
The Paper Cinema’s unique blend of hand-drawn animation and live performance brings a double bill of stories. Set against the backdrop of Dorset’s rugged coastline and the dramatic cliffs of Purbeck, The Rock Charmer delves into the enchanting legends inspired by the area’s rich geological history. This programme also features a revival of the classic Paper Cinema show, The Night Flyer. In this original creation, our hero crosses abstract landscapes on a bike in pursuit of a mysterious train and a lost girl. Performed by two puppeteers and a multi-instrumentalist, The Paper Cinema invite you to step into a mesmerising realm where storytelling and visual artistry intertwine.
Monday 19 May: Joanna Holland with Leah Clements and Louise Kim Salter – The Haunted: Insomnia & Reverie – A Dream of Autoimmunity
This two show production in Great Yarmouth promises to offer insights into the emotional experience of chronic illness and parasomnia and invites you into the eerie, surreal and uncanny space of the liminal with. Female-led narratives by Disabled and non-Disabled artists share what it’s like to exist in an ever-shifting, ‘in between’ space.
Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 May: Alex McAleer – Mind Reader
Alex McAleer possesses the uncanny ability to apparently tap into his audiences’ minds and read their thoughts at will. At the age of fourteen, he began studying the techniques of psychics and hypnotists throughout history, learning and developing the unusual skills that have taken him all over the world, from Mexico to the West End.
Saturday 24 May: Harriet Martineau Lecture with Val McDermid
The Harriet Martineau Lecture celebrates the legacy of a remarkable, world-changing woman by inviting globally-renowned radical speakers to respond to her life and work. This year’s lecture will be delivered by one of the UK’s finest contemporary novelists, Val McDermid. One of the UK’s most accomplished and respected novelists, Val McDermid has sold over 19 million books to date across the globe and is translated into more than 40 languages. She is perhaps best-known for her Wire in the Blood series, featuring clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill and DCI Carol Jordan, which was adapted for television starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris.
Saturday 24 May: Britten Sinfonia with Imogen Whitehead
The sinfonia performs at Norwich Cathedral with a programme featuring Wagne’sr Siegfried Idyll; Hummell’s Trumpet Concerto; Arvo’s Pärt Fratres; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1.
