A Norfolk market town is to get its own artist in residence as part of a summer festival – with an early gig ahead of the main May programme.
The Norfolk & Norwich Festival has announced Victoria Melody as artist in residence with the Your Town, My Town, Our Town youth engagement programme, based in Swaffham. The programme is part of a wider High Street regeneration project, Swaffham – A Historic Market Town, which aims to revive the town’s historic high street and champion its rich character, culture and heritage assets.
Victoria will bring her show Trouble, Struggle, Bubble and Squeak to Swaffham on Saturday 28 February at Swaffham Barn and Theatre. The show blends storytelling and stand-up as past and present collide in this tale of high jinks and resistance, which sees Victoria explore the world of historical re-enactment. The show is directed by comedian Mark Thomas.
Your Town, My Town, Our Town comes to life this May in the Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2026 programme. Victoria will listen to and record stories from children and young people in Swaffham. Having captured their aspirations and dreams, she will develop their stories to co-create public art works in autumn 2026.
Elsewhere in Swaffham, live art innovators Hunt & Darton are bringing their show Kids Business to town as part of the Festival. This ‘pop-up’ public art work will be situated in a high street shop in Swaffham. Working with local budding young entrepreneurs, the duo will run a series of workshops to grow ideas, cultivate skills, and bring to fruition the creation of a new business, democratically conjured up through the imagination of a group of kids.
Recruitment for Kids Business will take place in Swaffham on Saturday 18 April. Workshops will be in late April/early May. The shop will be open for business across two weekends during the Festival.
As part of Your Town, My Town, Our Town, local young people collaborated with the Swaffham Cultural Consortium and SOUNDYARD, to capture the voices of Swaffham at the August 2025 Artisan Fayre. Their stories will be presented at Swaffham Museum when it reopen from its winter refurbishment on Monday 16 February.
- The main Norfolk & Norwich Festival runs from Friday 8 to Sunday 24 May 2026 at venues across the county. The full programme will be released later this month.
