Maritime Festival 2010

The 2010 Great Yarmouth Maritime Festival took place on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 September 2010 on South Quay, when traditional tall ships, expedition vessels, steam drifters and lifeboats were moored on South Quay for visitors to admire.   Photographs above are of the Russian ship, the Shtandart, which welcomed visitors aboard for free.  This three masted tall ship is a replica of  Peter the Great’s first Russian-built flagship (1703) and is generously ornamented with stunning carvings.  Visitors could also go on board the Excelsior and Lydia Eva and enjoy trips on the Southern Belle and MV Coronia, a pleasure steamer which was built in Yarmouth in 1935.

Shanty and maritime music was performed throughout the festival at three different venues, all with bars, up and down South Quay, with a packed programme of artistes, including the Dutch Shantycrew Buitenboord photographed above on their first visit to Great Yarmouth.   

Painting, ceramics, knot tying, net mending and lace making were all on display in the popular demonstrator’s marquees.   Tasty food stalls were abundant including the Feast of Fish marquee, whipping up some delicious fish dishes. Walk about entertainment included The Giant Seagulls, Horatio Herring and Mrs H !  The BBC  presented Bang goes the Theory performances on Stonecutter’s Quay!  The weather was superb on both days and the festival seemed busier than ever.

Out There Festival

Welcome to the third incarnation of Out There – a massive free festival of international performance and participation taking place in St. George’s Park, Great Yarmouth on the 18th and 19th September. Out There is now the largest street arts festival in the region.

Joe Mackintosh of SeaChange Arts says, “We love being Out There! Out on the east coast, we think we’re a little bit special – perched on the edge of the UK and tipping a wink to the continent! Our programme reflects that. This year we welcome one of the titans of international street arts,Générik Vapeur who will perform the English premier their long- running street show, Bivouac. From France we also welcome Chamboule Touthéatre and two of the original founders of the parkour phenomenon in a show called Fusion. Add to that performers from Sweden, Belgium, New Zealand and Australia all bringing us a sense of the weird, the wonderful and the unusual.

We’re also supporting local artists with a series of local commissions and performances around the festival park and there’s plenty of opportunity to get Out There yourself with a number of participatory workshops.”

Out There has been developed with the support of the ZEPA network, an innovative project partnering nine French and English festivals to create and share artists, tours and expertise. While born of international partnerships the festival is founded on the historic qualities that make Great Yarmouth unique with its rich heritage of circus and seaside entertainment.

The Out There festival is pure fun and not to be missed! For more information click here.

Heritage Open Days

A great opportunity to discover hidden Greater Yarmouth over four days of free events with special guided tours and visits to buildings not usually open to the public, Heritage Open Days spans four days from 9th – 12th September 2010. 

Amongst  the many great buildings to explore are HS Smoke House , five traditional old smoke houses in South Denes, over 150 years old and still using traditional methods for smoking herring.  Prebooking is required for guided tours on Friday at 11.00 am and Saturday 10.00.    Also the wonderfully ornate Regent Theatre, now Mecca bingo, designed by Frances Burdett Ward and decorated in the Louis XVI style.  Opened in 1914,  it has been well preserved by its current owner. Pre-booking is required here too for guided tours on Thursday and Friday 11.00 am and Sunday 12.00 am.   But these are just two of  the 42 participating venues.

For more information visit the Heritage Open Days site by clicking here.

Exhibition opportunity for artists

Artists Needed for Exhibition in September 2010

The St James Health & Resource Centre is hosting a collective art exhibition on 24th, 25th & 26th September 2010.

I am looking for artists to come along with their artwork (any media), and exhibit it over the weekend.

Please get in contact with us and let us know what kind of work it is i.e size, media, special requirements.

If you are interested please call Rosina on 01493 335790 or e-mail on rosina.haskell@nwes.org.uk

Deadline for applications 01/09/2010

Sunday Circus at Time and Tide

Roll up, roll up! Meet Rollo the Clown for fire eating, magic and escapology. Visit ‘Showtime’, our circus exhibition and hear a talk on the history of clowning by Great Yarmouth’s Don Stacey. Have your face painted and join in with circus themed crafts and dance. Tap your feet to live music from Great Yarmouth Youth Brass Orchestra and enjoy tasty treats in the delightful Silver Darlings cafe. 10am – 5pm, museum admission only.  Sunday 8th August 2010

Great Yarmouth Community Cinema

Gorleston Cliff Top Festival

The Cliff Top Festival on Marine Parade, Gorleston will be held on Saturday 31 July 12-22 hrs. and Sunday 1 August 11 to late, and includes music, a funfair, helicopter rides, side-shows and a fireworks display on the Sunday night.  Click here to go to the Cliff Top Festival website for full information.

As part of the ‘BeInvolved with vinvolved Summer Season’, the Norfolk vinvolved team will be on hand to assist volunteers and have roles for people of all abilities.

Food, water and hot drinks will be provided and all reasonable travel expenses will be paid.

For more information, please contact Steve Smith at Norfolk vinvolved on 07771 531562 or http://steve.smith@voluntarynorfolk.org.uk

From the Voluntary Norfolk e-bulletin. To subscribe to this useful bulletin, go to the Voluntary Norfolk website by clicking here.

Working Neighbourhoods Fund Small Grants

What could your Great Yarmouth group do with £10,000?

Groups in Great Yarmouth are being given the opportunity to apply for a grant of up to £10,000 from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund Small Grants programme to help tackle worklessness and low levels of skills and enterprise in the Borough of Great Yarmouth.

WNF Small Grants is a sponsored initiative, funded by Great Yarmouth Borough Council and run in partnership with Voluntary Norfolk.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 4 August at 12.00pm.

For further information please contact Helen Johnson on 01493 845 925 or helen.johnson@voluntarynorfolk.org.uk

Arts & Crafts Stalls: Out There 2010

Artists and craftspeople are invited to apply for a pitch to trade at the Out There International Festival of Street Arts and Circus 2010, taking place in St George’s Park, Great Yarmouth on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th September 2010. Stalls can be used for selling and also for demonstration purposes. The site will be open for all traders to set up between 7.30 – 10am on both Saturday and Sunday.

There will be no charge for an arts and crafts pitch. Tables and chairs will be provided but if you require any other methods of displaying work or decorating your stall, you will need to provide this yourself.

If you are interested, click here to email Becca Clayton, Projects Assistant at SeaChange Arts to ask for an application form and further information. Deadline for submission of applications: 12th August 2010.

Silent Hobo to create murals at St. George’s

SeaChange Arts are calling for nominations for a Great Yarmouth community champion to take their part in two murals being commissioned for the town and supported by the heritage lottery fund.

The murals will be used to decorate hoardings around the St George’s Chapel development. The work depicts key points in Yarmouth’s heritage and cultural life, from earliest beginnings, through maritime and tourist heritage up to its focus in 1960s youth culture with the Mods and Rockers.

The murals are being created by Bristol based artist Silent Hobo.  A character-based artist who works on large-scale street murals, Silent Hobo’s work mixes comic art influences, graffiti and Manga. His work is featured on buildings around Bristol and has been exhibited at The Tobacco factory in Bristol and Selfridges in London.

Silent Hobo will work on the 30-metre mural for St George’s Chapel during two visits to the town over the coming months. The work will be created on panels, which will be attached to the hoarding around the chapel during its renovation into a multi-purpose arts centre. It is expected these will stay in place until major works are completed. Following that, individual panels will be donated to various groups around town with the successfully nominated local figure receiving the panel featuring them.

As the murals will exhibited in the King Street area and are part of the ongoing regeneration project there, SeaChange Arts would like people to nominate community champions from the King Street and Middlegate areas. “We’re looking for someone who’s an unsung hero, someone who enhances their community, environment or who supports the work and lives of others,” explained Sarah James. “They could be a neighbour, a friend or a relative, perhaps someone who works tirelessly for charity, the environment or inspires in any aspect of life.”

Nominations can be made by emailing their name and 100 words explaining why they’ve been nominated to mailto://David1@seachangearts.org.uk Alternatively, nomination forms can be picked up in venues along King Street.