Dragon-hunters are called upon to reveal the hidden secrets in The Dragon’s Spell, a new city centre trail as part of the Norwich Dragon Festival. The challenge is to track down the dragons, uncover the cunningly concealed secret code and piece them together to enter the competition!

Norwich’s Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART) and Writers’ Centre Norwich commissioned the award-winning poet George Szirtes to write The Dragon’s Spell, which weaves its way through the city centre during the Norwich Dragon Festival 2014 (10–23 February).

Pick up The Dragon’s Spell leaflet from Norwich Tourist Information Centre, The Forum and intu Chapelfield and look out for the 20 dragon panels in shop and venue windows throughout the city until 23^rd February. Each dragon is unique – some have spots, stripes or even horns, and they’re all different colours – which one’s your favourite?!

Complete the trail and discover the hidden Dragon’s Spell – then enter the competition to win some great prizes! First prize is a unique specially commissioned wooden dragon sculpture, created by Wild Chain Carvers! And runners-up will receive an intu Chapelfield Gift Card – £50 for second prize, and £25 for third prize. Plus early-bird dragon-seekers who hand in their completed form at intu Chapelfield will receive a special memento postcard featuring the whole of The Dragon’s Spell poem by George Szirtes. These are limited and on a first come first served basis, so get dragon spotting now!

The Norwich Dragon Festival is organised by Norwich’s Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART), with support from Norwich Business Improvement District (BID), The Forum and the Norwich Town Close Estate Charity, and includes a wide range of events themed around dragons, to promote heritage to a broad audience during the post-Christmas depths of winter.

Dragon-seekers of all ages will enjoy films, sculptures, competitions, quests and tours, arts and craft activities, puppet shows, dragon trails, storytelling, dragon performances, talks, exhibitions, artwork and displays. You can see a snippet of some of the events in a special trailer video on Norwich HEART’s YouTube channel.

Other quests during the Norwich Dragon Festival include dragon trails at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist (until 23 Feb) and Norwich Cathedral (until 22 Feb); earn the dragon badge via the Norwich: Heritage City smartphone app; take the Dragon Hall Family Guided Tour (Tue 18), and or go on a Dragon Quest at Strangers’ Hall (Wed 19 & Sat 22).

Dragons have been a heraldic symbol closely associated with the city of Norwich since the Middle Ages (including the Guild of St George and its procession featuring Snap the dragon), and today dragons are still visible across the city’s architecture and feature in many city celebrations.

Madeleine Coupe, Projects Development Officer for HEART, said: “We’re really excited about The Dragon’s Spell and have enjoyed working with Writers’ Centre Norwich, George Szirtes and businesses in the city centre to come up with this fantastic and exciting trail across Norwich“.

Region’s photographers showcased in There Be Dragons! Exhibition

Photographers from around the region were challenged to seek out and capture images of dragons in Norwich, and the results are on show in the There Be Dragons! exhibition at The Forum until 23^rd February, as part of the Norwich Dragon Festival.

‘There Be Dragons!’ is the fifth community photography competition from festival organiser Norwich’s Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART), and the exhibition celebrates dragons and other mythological beasts in Norwich’s heritage, and showcases inspiring photography talent from the region. The best images in the competition from two age categories – under 25-year-olds and over 25-year-olds – were judged on photographic content and composition, originality and creativity and relevance to Norwich’s heritage.

This competition and exhibition follows the success of the last four HEART community photography competitions – ‘Norwich 12’, ‘Medieval Churches’, ‘My Heritage’ and ‘Alternative Angles’. Judges included HEART’s CEO, Michael Loveday, James Smith, Course Leader BA (Hons) Photography, at Norwich University of the Arts, and Mike Jefferies, Art Director at Mike Jefferies Design.

Judge Mike Jefferies said: “The Under-25s show definite flair and the confidence to take risks, as well as a pleasing variety to the way colour has been used, whilst the Over-25s group provides more atmospheric shots, with deep, moody tones and attractive use of light and shade, as well as a refreshingly humorous approach. Both categories reveal a wealth of unexpected subject matter, some previously unseen by all the panel. And there are also some imaginative viewpoints, showing more well-known subjects in a new light. Hopefully the visitors to this exhibition will be inspired, as I have been, to search out their own unusual sights in our abundantly curious city.”

Paul Harley, winner of the Over-25s for his image of St Mark the winged lion at St Helen’s church, said “Norwich is full of medieval treasures. I really enjoyed the challenge of this competition, because it gave me an excuse to revisit some of my favourite medieval buildings and look for mythical beasts. As I walked the streets, I looked up and saw carvings, sculptures and mouldings that I’d not noticed before, but in the end my best photo was of a pew end in St Helen’s church.”

Matilda Pine, Under-25s winner for her image Dragon Slayer, of Archangel Michael fighting a dragon, said “After hearing about this competition, I visited Norwich Cathedral, and after searching for an hour, I spotted a stained glass window featuring a dragon. I liked how the light was reflected through the window onto the wall, making the photo colourful and intriguing. I also like how the colours of the dragon are bright and stand out against the framing of the window.”

Jon Clark, Course Leader in Photography at City College Norwich, said “City College Norwich student Matilda Pine was proud and excited to be selected as the Under 25s winner, and we also have five runners up in the exhibition! It is good professional practice and confidence building for our students, getting their photographs out of the college and exhibited.”

The exhibition panels have been part-sponsored by Red Dragon Media, who got in touch to support the festival. Matt Wright from the firm said “It is Red Dragon Media’s pleasure to breathe fire into the exhibition for this year’s Dragon Festival. Endangered species must help each other! The Dragon Festival is now a much-loved celebration of Norwich’s historic contribution to East Anglian heritage and we hope that in future years, Red Dragon Media will continue to assist in bringing the Festival to a wider audience.”

Organised by Norwich’s Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART), with support from Norwich Business Improvement District (BID), The Forum and the Norwich Town Close Estate Charity, the Norwich Dragon Festival includes a wide range of events themed around dragons, to promote heritage to a broad audience during the post-Christmas depths of winter.

Dragons have been a heraldic symbol closely associated with the city of Norwich since the Middle Ages (including the Guild of St George and its procession featuring Snap the dragon), and today dragons are still visible across the city’s architecture and feature in many city celebrations. Dragon-seekers of all ages will enjoy films, sculptures, competitions, quests and tours, arts and craft activities, puppet shows, dragon trails, storytelling, dragon performances, talks, exhibitions, artwork and displays. You can see a snippet of some of the events in a special trailer video on Norwich HEART’s YouTube channel.

You can see the winning, highly commended and shortlisted photographs in The Forum until 23^rd February. For more information about the festival visit www.heritagecity.org/dragonfestival, or pick up the brochure from around Norwich and Norfolk. You can also follow announcements about the festival on Twitter at @NorwichDragons and @NorwichHEART and #NorwichDragonFestival, or on Facebook – Norwich HEART orNorwich Dragon Festival.