Daniel Brine, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Norfolk & Norwich Festival has confirmed that the 2021 Festival will go ahead between 17 – 30 May this year. Following the government’s announcement on Monday 22 February, the Festival, which was due to start on 14 May, has pushed its start date back by just three days.
The 14-day event is set to be a specially created one-off adaptation including outdoor and socially distanced performance, art and music as well as a digital strand.
Daniel Brine said: “We are delighted to be able to say that the Festival is going ahead. We have been working for 12 months on a special Festival that could take place safely in COVID times and hope, subject to the scheduled easing of restrictions that we will be able to deliver on all our planning.
We will be taking every responsible precaution, working with the local authorities and making the programme as safe and adaptable as we can. We will begin making performance announcements over the coming weeks and are sure there’s something within the programme that everyone will be able to enjoy.”
Mr Brine also revealed that the 2021 Festival organisers and partners will make the vast majority of the programme available on a free or ‘pay what you want’ basis.
“This is just one of several radical changes we’ve made in 2021. We’re aware that it has been a tremendously difficult year for everyone, in all sorts of ways. While it’s not a sustainable business model beyond this year, the approach allows as many people as possible the chance to access and enjoy the Festival and the collective experience and healing power that art and events of this nature bring. We’re able to do this in part due to the steadfast support of Arts Council England, Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council. And we thank a number of wonderful sponsors and supporters who share our ambitions. We’re excited that we can begin our recovery from 17 May.”
The Festival will feature a programme of music, performance, visual arts and literature in venues and outdoor spaces across Norwich and Norfolk.
All Festival events will be in line with government guidelines. More information can be found here.
