Mary HamiltonWorkers at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival are celebrating their best weekend ever after a successful public launch.Norfolk and Norwich Festival official siteMary Hamilton

Workers at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival are celebrating their best weekend ever after a successful public launch.

With sales of tickets worth more than �10,000 on Saturday and nearly �5,000 on Sunday, the festival recorded the highest grossing weekend in its 239-year history.

Artistic director Jonathan Holloway said: "This has been a record-breaking weekend for us. Our biggest, boldest and best programme ever has really captured the imagination of a region with a passion for the arts.

"The east of England is a region reinventing itself. On just about every level the people who live here are seizing opportunities for cultural experiences with both hands.

"Last year, we said the festival was on an upward trajectory; this year, it looks as if the whole region is heading in the same direction, cementing the reputation of Norwich and Norfolk as one of the UK's cultural hotspots."

Organisers are already predicting early sellouts for several shows, including Jordi Savall, Moscow State Symphony, Flamenco sin Fronteras, La Vie and John Cale.

The record-breaking ticket sales are another boost to Norwich's reputation as it seeks to become the first UK City of Culture in 2013.

The full festival programme was launched to the public in style on Saturday afternoon in Norwich city centre, with the festival's promotional video showing on the Big Screen outside Chapelfield.

Members of the publicity team and their children handed out more than 5,000 fliers and brochures to shoppers around the city with the help of the Oompah Band, a brass band playing classic pop.

The programme features music from classical to punk, dance, theatre and art events including the Evening News-sponsored Home Sweet Home, which invites people in Norwich to build their own ideal city and community out of cardboard.

� For more information about the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, visit www.nnfestival.org.uk or find them on Twitter or Facebook.

� To view this year's programme and book tickets, visit www.nnf10.org.uk or call 01603 766400.

� What do you think about this year's festival line-up? Write to Evening News letters at Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE, or email eveningnewsletters@archant.co.uk

� Opinion - Page 8

Norfolk and Norwich Festival official site