Out There Festival

A massive free festival of international performance and participation took 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 one of the titans of international street arts, Générik Vapeur performed the English premier of their long- running street show, Bivouac, which was a huge success.  Hundreds of people followed the blue-painted performers as they made their way down from St. George’s Parade and along Marine Parade banging and rolling huge oil drums, preceded by a flame throwing iron dog and accompanied by a lorry upon which three musicians were performing.  Fire crackers were being let off to startle the swarming crowd and acrobats appeared on buildings.  The sense of expectancy was tangible amongst the milling spectators and the fireworks finale was magnificent.

From France Chamboule Touthéatre and two of the original founders of the parkour phenomenon performed in a show called Fusion.  Add to that performers from Sweden, Belgium, New Zealand and Australia all brought  a sense of the weird, the wonderful and the unusual.

Local artists were commissioned to lead community workshops to create mobiles, kinetic and metal sculptures and flags and banners to decorate the festival park, and to deliver participatory workshops on site at the festival.

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 -watch out for the 2011 Festival!  For more information click here.

Showtime: Great Yarmouth’s Circus Story

Time and Tide, 27 March – 31 October 2010

You may be familiar with Great Yarmouth’s maritime history, but did you know that it also has a long history as a circus town, and is home to a world-renowned circus building?

The first circus came to town in 1845, though the event is best remembered for tragedy. Nelson the Clown was performing a publicity stunt, sailing down the river Bure in a bathtub pulled by four geese, when the surge of the crowds gathered on the bridge caused it to collapse; 79 people, mainly children, were drowned.

Several circuses passed through the town throughout the 1800s, performing in wooden buildings constructed for the purpose, until in 1903 a permanent building was opened. The Hippodrome on St Georges Street was built for George Gilbert, who had turned to circus management after an injury meant he could no longer perform. The Hippodrome is still a working circus today, the only circus building in the UK to still be used for its intended purpose, and one of only four across the globe to feature a ring which can sink to be flooded for spectacular, water-based finales.

Showtime: Great Yarmouth ’s Circus Story at Time and Tide celebrates the town’s rich circus heritage. It features paintings, posters, props and costumes from two local collectors, as well as from the museum’s own collections. Peter Jay , who has run the Hippodrome since 1978 is lending props from his own backstage museum. The town is also home to Don Stacey, who over a lifetime of involvement with the industry, has amassed the largest private collection of circus memorabilia in the UK .

Also on display are a new series of paintings by Katherine Hamilton, based on a recent residency at the Hippodrome.

Showtime Events

Friday Talks Last Friday of the Month, 11.30am

Museums at Night Saturday 15 May, 6 – 10pm

Rollo’s Circus Skills Workshops Mondays 26 July – 30 August

Circus Sunday 8 August, 10am – 5pm

Admission: Monday – Sunday 10am – 5pm

Adults £4.50

Conc. £3.80

Young Person (4-16) £3.30

Time and Tide, Museum of Great Yarmouth Life, Blackfriars Road, Great Yarmouth, NR30 3BX01493 743930  www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk

Great Yarmouth’s Circus Story

‘Showtime’, a vibrant exhibition about the history of the circus in Great Yarmouth, opens at the Time and Tide Museum on Saturday 27th March and will run until 31st October.  Items of marvellous memorabilia collected by Peter Jay, owner of Great Yarmouth’s Hippodrome, and Don  Stacey, are included in the exhibition, along with studies by Bruer Tidman and paintings by Katherine Hamilton of the modern day circus .

Amongst the related events at the Time and Tide are Rollo’s Circus Skills Workshops on Mondays between 26th July and 30th August, and Circus Sunday, 8th August, 10.00 -17.00 hrs.   For more information about events visit www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk.

Visitors to the exhibition will receive vouchers for £2.50 of a full price adult seat at the Hippodrome.

The Time and Tide Museum on Blackfriars Road, Great Yarmouth, is open Monday – Sunday, 10.00 – 17.00 hrs.  (Note: Winter opening hours from 2nd November 2010- 31 March 2011 are 10.-16.00 hrs Mon-Friday and 10.00-16.00 hrs Sat. and Sun.) 2010 admission to the Time and Tide museum:  adult  £4.50, concessions £3.80, young person (4-16) £3.30.  Discounts are available for pre-booked groups.  For more information tel: 01493 743930 or visit Norfolk Museums website www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk

For full information about all the museums in Great Yarmouth, with admissions times and prices , click here and download the 2010 Great Yarmouth Heritage Quarter Guide.