A varied programme of music, arts and culture will be on offer during the 9th annual Harleston & Waveney Arts Festival which takes place around the Norfolk town, and beyond, from 23rd – 30th August 2010.
The London Mozart Players will be the headline act on Tuesday 24th August when the internationally renowned ensemble will delight audiences at St John’s Church with a classical repertoire including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major.
The Festival boasts an impressive and unmissable line up of events including a screening of the new Alice In Wonderland film, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, at The Apollo Club on 26 August, as well as concerts, talks, workshops, film screenings, a weekend of live music and a family fun day.
The Festival opens on Saturday 21st August with an evening of World Music in aid of Amnesty International at The Swan Hotel, Harleston, which includes a mandolin performance from Louis De Bernieres. The Sole Bay Jazz Band is back by popular demand, playing at the Apollo Club on Friday 27th August.
On Saturday 28th August, the soon to be opened Pennoyer Centre in Pulham St Mary will be hosting an Airship Celebration Day and Starston Church will be getting involved too with a programme of readings from the work of Dylan Thomas.
The Festival box office is now open for these and all other festival events on 01379 851917 and 01379 852221 and festival-goers are being advised to book early to ensure they don’t miss out.
Another new aspect to the Festival this year is ‘Breaking Ground’, a month long arts project devised by the town’s allotment association and aiming to promote the pleasure and beauty of fresh, home grown vegetables. A variety of free activities are planned including story telling, a poetry competition and children’s poetry workshop, and Garden Gnome Sculpture Workshop.
Other events around the town during the week include open days, guided walks, and talks plus a free music weekend at the Swan Hotel and a free family fun day on the Recreation Ground on Bank Holiday Monday (30 August) which includes a Battle of Britain Memorial fly-past and RAF Sea King Helicopter fly past organised by RAFA.
Festival Chairman, Margaret Griffiths, commented: “It’s a very full and varied programme this year and there are many free events to enjoy around the town all week. We are delighted to bring exciting events to Harleston for people to enjoy on their doorstep and we urge everyone in the town and surrounding area to come along and enjoy what the Festival has to offer.”
Tickets can be booked in advance on 01379 851917 or 01379 852221.
For more information see www.harlestonandwaveneyfestival.co.uk
The full Festival programme is as follows:
Saturday 21st
An Evening of World Music in Aid of Amnesty International
7.30pm – The Swan Hotel, Harleston. Tickets are £5 in advance and should be booked through The Swan Hotel on 01379 852221.
Tuesday 24th
The London Mozart Players, St John’s Church, Harleston, 7.30pm. Tickets: £20, £15, £10. Box office: 01379 851917 or 01379 852221.
Wednesday 25th
Our Man In France
12.30pm, King George Hall, Harleston. Founding director of the Festival Gerry Pocock talks about his experiences in France. Free event, small charge for glass of wine.
3 Women – 3 Continents
7.30pm, Wingfield Barns. Documentary film maker Bob Edwards shows three of his films showing personal ‘portraits’ of charismatic women all with a strong musical content. Tickets: £6. Box office: 01379 851917 or 01379 852221.
Thursday 26th
Poetry Reading with Oliver Lascelles
12.30 – 2pm, The Swan Hotel. Free event.
Film Screening – Alice In Wonderland
Apollo Club, Harleston, 7.30pm. Tickets: £5 Adult, £3 accompanied children. Box office: 01379 851917 or 01379 852221.
Friday 27th
The Sole Bay Jazz Band
7.30pm, The Apollo Club, Harleston. The band has been entertaining audiences across the region for almost three decades with their unique brand of trad and mainstream jazz.
Tickets £7. Box office: 01379 851917 or 01379 852221.
A Night of Acoustic Music
8pm, The Swan Hotel, The Harleston. The Festival’s famous free music weekend of blues, folk, rock and pop begins with an acoustic evening in the Swan’s Carvery with top folk acts on the circuit including Cumbrian duo The Gardenelles who are making a name for themselves in the north. Free event.
Saturday 28th
Music and Beer Festival at The Swan Hotel
Noon until 11pm. The free Music Weekend continues at The Swan Hotel from midday and continues until late. Top regional acts and a top covers band will provide the perfect accompaniment to the Real Ale Festival and delicious food.
Children will also be entertained and delighted with story telling in the Carvery from 2pm.
Airship Celebration Day
Come and discover The Pennoyer Centre and enjoy a day of celebration based around the Pulham Pig airships that were a familiar sight in the area during the first half of the 20th Century. At 3pm there will be a special showing of a rarely seen airship film thanks to the East Anglian Film Archive. For information call 01379 608760. Free event, donations welcome.
Dylan Thomas Looking Back
7.30pm, St Margaret’s Church. Readings from the work of Dylan Thomas performed by Brian Ellis. Tickets: £6.50 including refreshments. Box office: 01379 851917 or 01379 852221.
Masonic Lodge Open Day
10am – 3pm. 3 Redenhall Road, Harleston. Free event, all welcome.
Sunday 29th
The free Music Weekend continues at The Swan Hotel from midday until 6pm with jazz and blues and more real ales and food on offer. More music at The Cherry Tree from 8pm.
Horrible Harleson walk with Gordon Lascelles
2.30pm, from Broad Street at the Church Gate. Free event
Open Day at Prior’s Croft Barn
11am – 5pm, Withersdale Street. A unique opportunity to discover this collection of vintage wireless, gramophone and sound recording equipment. Plus meet FOND, the Friends of Norfolk Dialect, and hear recordings made by them over the last 10 years. Free event.
Monday 30th
Family Fun day
All day. Free Family Fun Day at Harleston’s recreation ground where there will be vintage cars, tractors and military vehicles. Events in the arena will include dancing, wacky races and kick boxing demonstrations. There will be stalls, a barbecue bar, car boot sale, petanque and bouncy castles. A very special event this year will be a fly-past by the Battle of Britain Memorial flight and an RAF Sea King helicopter. The Festival is grateful to RAFA for organising this.
BREAKING GROUND ARTS PROJECT
Poetry competition. Entry deadline is 7 August. See www.penandpapershop.co.uk for details. Free
Children’s Poetry Workshop, 28 July, from 11am at Harleston Library. Free
Open Art and Craft Exhibition
21 August – 1 September, The Cygnet Bar at The Swan Hotel. Closing date for entries is 2 August. Contact Kate at [email protected]
Garden Gnome Sculpture Workshop
24 August, 2-4pm, Harleston Library. Free event.
Story Telling at the Library
25 August, from 2pm. Free event.
Visual Celebration of Harleston’s allotments
26 August – 25 September
Harleston Gallery, Old Market Place. Free
