It’s that time of year again – we’ve hit peak summertime, and we’ve got a lot more sunny days ahead of us. One thing you need to know about Norwich is that we take the community seriously, and we like to use every inch of our Fine City to host concerts, fairs, pop-ups and so much more to help keep the proud spirit of the city of stories alive. You’d be hard-pressed to find a city that brings as much excitement when celebrating all aspects and interests of our fellow Norwichians – so get ready to learn something new and experience something truly special!

From theatre to music to literature, there’s always something around the bend this summer, and of the time of writing this, a very important month for the LGBTQ community – that’s right, it’s Pride Month! We’re so proud to be hosting our 14th Pride Celebration here in Norwich, so we’ll talk more about that later, but for now, it’s just a reminder that all activities and festivities are always inclusive for everyone! 

So let’s jump right into summer!

GoGo Discover – Now till 10th September

If you’ve been out into town recently over the past few weeks, you may have noticed some new residents occupying the street corners and prowling around some of Norwich’s landmarks… 

In fact, these prehistoric popups, all designed by local artists alongside local community art groups and schools (55 T. Rex, 24 Mammoths and 98 Breakasuareses to be precise) have found themselves all over the towns, cities and coastlines of Norfolk! It’s all a part of one of the more heartwarming and important events this year: GoGo Discover, organised by East Anglian children charity Break, and all proceeds go towards helping young people make the transition from care safely and most importantly not on their own.

The trail of sculptures can be found all over the city and the county – all you need to do is get yourself a map, either from one of the pre-chosen map hubs (and leave a donation of course) or download the digital app on your phone. As you move along and discover more dinos, you can learn more about the piece and the creature featured and even scan your favourites!

Merchandising and a raffle to win your very own Breakasuarus are also events being held to raise money for this fantastic cause – along with an auction on the 28th of September if any interested buyers would like to buy a piece of Norwich for their home or business.

The trail is live for the next few months, but it is county wide so what are you waiting for? Get T.Rex trekking!

Head Out, Not Home – 24th July till 4th September

There’s a change in Norwich city centre we can feel as soon as the sun comes out – well to be more specific, it’s a change we can hear! We’re talking about street performers and musicians, and if you’re looking for some top-quality musical entertainment in the city without busting the bank on tickets, then this is the event for you!

Starting in 2013, Head Out, Not Home has been loving produced and organised by NorwichBid and NORCA & Sistema, and promises to host a huge line-up of some of Norwich’s favourite buskers and street performers!

Hosted at 6 different outdoor locations (Millenium Plain, Westlegate, St, Gregory’s Green, Gentleman’s Walk, Riverside and Tombland), and every week – 5 performers will serenade the area from mid-day till the early afternoon, long enough to enjoy the area, set up a bit of an urban picnic or simply soak in the rays.

With all genres of music – from blues to classical, funk to world, there’s no way you can go wrong and miss this free festival!

Norwich Pride – 30th July

As we’ve mentioned before, this is a big year for Norwich pride as this year marks the 14th anniversary of the first celebration of the LGBTQ landmark festivity! And as always, it keeps getting bigger and better each time!

You can probably feel the energy and excitement around, with flags, stickers and street art slowly keeping the energy and excitement steadily rising before the 30th of July! It’s difficult to fit even half the amount of events, marches, talks and entertainment that will be featured during this city-wide Pride – but Norwich Pride’s website and organisers have collated all of the information about what’s on, who’s where and so on, along with information about the history of Pride and so much more!

The free 50-page PDF (see what we meant about bigger and better?) can be found on their website.

Noirwich 2022 – 8th till 10th September

Here’s a festival that really marks the end of summer, somehow in the most fitting of ways! We’re always harping on about Norwich being the City of Stories (It is a UNESCO city of literature after all…), but if you needed convincing, then your answer has come in the form of Noirwich!

A festival custom-made for those avid readers who can’t get enough spine-tingling crime fiction, Noirwich is inviting eight world-renowned novelists and crime writers, including best-selling author Charlie Higson and two-time award winner Vaseem Khan, to give talks, Q&As and more over three literature packed days.

Led by the University of East Anglia’s School of Creative Writing, this is sure to be a truly exciting, and maybe even slightly unnerving festival for any amateur or professional writer!

There you have it!

Well, they’re just a few things to be looking forward to in our fine city, but don’t worry, it doesn’t end there – there’s so much going on nearly every day, and certainly every weekend! Take a look here to see if there are any more summer celebrations that pique your interest.

Here at ABC we love nothing more than seeing the community come together – that’s why we do as much as we can to get you where you need to be, exactly when you need to be there. Travelling with ABC is a guarantee of quality service from experienced drivers – to book a taxi, make an online reservation, download our app for Apple or Android or call 01603 666333.