It started as a sermon

The Norfolk and Norwich Festival began as a fundraising sermon in 1772 to raise money for the new Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. The following year organ recitals were added and the event gradually picking up more and more music. By 1788 the Grand Music Festival had expanded to four days of concerts in St Andrew’s Hall and St Peter Mancroft and the first Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Festival was held in 1824 – and then every three years except during the world wars until it became annual in 1988. Today it the programme is packed with hundreds of music, dance, theatre, installations and interactive events.

The UK's first hospital radio

In 1899 telephone lines were run between St Andrew’s Hall and the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital on St Stephen’s Road, so patients could hear the concerts.

“It’s been fascinating to see just how innovative the festival has been, often in an attempt to attract new audiences, and how it plays not just an artistic role but a social one in the life of the city,” said Rob Mitchell, who has just written a book charting the history of the festival - Festival for a Fine City, 250 years of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

“The festival began as a fundraiser for the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and so needed the backing of wealthy families, but gradually more and more was done to bring music to those less well off or fortunate. For example, in early years, for a small fee people could pay to see the St Andrew’s Hall decorated ready for the Grand Ball which ended each festival.

“After the First World War, the Festival gave away tickets to local groups of blind people and former soldiers and also joined up with a local bank to start a savings scheme specifically for those wanting to buy tickets but who couldn’t easily afford to.”

Famous names

Conductor Henry Wood, who helped establish the Proms, took charge of the festival between 1908 and 1930, bringing world famous musicians including Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norwich to perform and conduct their own music. The 1936 festival, directed by Sir Thomas Beecham, featured world premières of music by Ralph Vaughan William and Benjamin Britten.

Rob Mitchell, author of Festival for a Fine City, said: “So many big names came to the Festival – composers such as Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Benjamin Britten and Arthur Sullivan were all commissioned for new music.”

Performers included Kathleen Ferrier singing the part of the angel in Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, and later, when the festival expanded beyond classical music it featured mime artist Marcel Marceau and actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.

Royal seal of approval

When the Festival resumed in 1947 with an appeal for funds, King George VI sent £25. For almost 200 years the festival was mainly about music, but the 1955 programme was the last to be almost exclusively made up of orchestral and choral concerts. It did have one non-musical event – an exhibition of paintings at the Castle Museum – including Breughel’s Garden of Eden, lent by the Queen.

A festival for French people?

In 1988 the festival became an annual event – with new artistic director, Richard Phillips, and a Dutch theme. The following year, exactly 200 years after the French Revolution, there was a French theme. The programme was packed with French music, art, theatre and even food. Norwich City College catering students, dressed in stripy jumpers and sporting strings of onions, served French food. “It had also not been anticipated," said Rob, "That some would believe the festival to be solely for French people!”

History book

The full and fascinating history of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival is explored in a new book by Rob Mitchell.

“It struck me that for a festival which had been going for so long and that had played such an important part in the musical and artistic life of both the county and the country, that more should be done to celebrate its past,” said librarian and researcher, Rob. “Thousands of people still enjoy the festival each year and given people of Norfolk are very proud of their history, this felt like a really great story to be able to tell.”

Which historic Festival year would you have most liked to attend?

“I think for pure excitement it would be hard to beat the 1824 Festival. Before this date, the events had been held on an ad hoc basis but were giving diminishing returns, financially at least. A huge, concerted effort was made to make the 1824 Festival a success, with the very best performers engaged, a new chorus was formed and Sir George Smart - an acquaintance of Beethoven - brought in to conduct. The whole city was buzzing with anticipation; military bands and other light entertainment could be heard in the run-up, and the streets were lined with thousands of people just eager to get a glimpse of a visiting celebrity performer or distinguished member of the audience.”

What are your favourite Festival memories?

“Undoubtedly Philip Glass in 2009 when he gave a beautifully imperfect solo piano performance at the Theatre Royal. But I also have very fond memories of the many jazz concerts that the festival has staged over the years – Courtney Pine, John Surman, Andy Sheppard, Robert Glasper, Abdullah Ibrahim and perhaps most memorably, Gwilym Simcock and the Voice Project (100-strong local choir) with the commissioned work I Prefer the Gorgeous Freedom, which was also in 2009.

What are you looking forward to about this year's Festival?

“It’s been a tricky couple of years for everyone and so, like many people, I’m looking forward to immersing myself once more in the ‘festival spirit’ that envelops the city with renewed appreciation, in what should be an extra special festival celebrating a magnificent 250 years!”

Festival for a Fine City, 250 years of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, by Rob Mitchell, is published by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

Rob will be giving a talk about the history of the festival as part of this year’s programme.

The Norfolk and Norwich Festival runs from May 13-29. nnfestival.org.uk