Local arts and regeneration organisation SeaChange Arts is currently looking for local people who would be interested in being interviewed by a group of young people to find out about their memories and experiences of circus and entertainment in Great Yarmouth.

SeaChange Arts has been awarded a Young Roots grant through the Heritage Lottery Fund to work with young people aged 13-25 years old exploring the circus and entertainment heritage of the town. The group will be working at the Norfolk Records Office to learn archiving techniques and take part in oral history training in order to produce a contemporary circus archive, which will be maintained at the Norfolk Records Office, Norfolk Sound Archive and East Anglian Film Archive.

“To help create the archive we are looking for local people who have memories of circus and entertainment in Great Yarmouth and would be happy to be interviewed by a young person” says Creative Producer Laurie Miller-Zutshi from SeaChange Arts. “It would be great to hear stories about people who visited the circus as a child or knew someone who performed at the Hippodrome, or remembers when there were animals in the show. We’d love to hear from as many people as possible”.

People’s memories will be collected and stored in a permanent archive at the Norfolk Records Office and incorporated into a bespoke schools pack for Key Stage 3 Geography pupils across Norfolk. The stories will also be used to inspire a new streets arts and circus show for the Out There International Festival of Street Arts and Circus in September, which will be performed by up to 35 young people from across the county.

The interviews will take place on Tuesday 2nd and Thursday 4th August at Maritime House in Great Yarmouth, or can be arranged at a more convenient place for the interviewee. Local people will be interviewed by a small group of young people who will be accompanied by a member of staff from the Norfolk Records Office and SeaChange Arts.

If you would like to share your memories of the circus or entertainment in Great Yarmouth, please contact Laurie Miller-Zutshi at SeaChange Arts on 01493 846187, or email [email protected].