The summer of culture
8th July 2026
Twelfth Night by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Norwich Cathedral 2025 © Norwich Cathedral/ Bill Smith
The local arts scene is abuzz this season with alfresco theatre, music in country churches, and more. Amanda Loose shares some of the must-dos you need to know about
Follow your art
A rare Tudor tapestry has been returned to its historic home of Oxburgh Hall, after being lost for over a century. The mid-16th century tapestry depicting the Old Testament’s Queen Esther, now hangs in the 15th century hall again after being spotted for sale at a fine art fair last year by National Trust research curator and collector Jeremy Warren.
Thought to have been acquired by the Bedingfeld family of Oxburgh Estate around the middle of the 16th century, the tapestry was originally one of a set of seven which would have hung together. They even made an appearance in Country Life Magazine in 1903 but were sold at auction in 1924, travelling to New York aboard the SS Paris in 1925. The current location of the other six tapestries is unknown. The Queen Esther tapestry will be on public display at Oxburgh until December 2026.
Curtain call!
Moving Parts Theatre Company is bringing a new open-air dramatisation of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey to historic venues across Norfolk this summer: Hindringham Hall on 10 July; Stow Hall Gardens on 12 July; Norwich Plantation Garden on 23 and 24 July; Hoveton Hall and Baconsthorpe Castle on 25 July; Creake Abbey on 26 July.
© Jason Harris, www.jasonharris.co.uk
Rain or Shine Theatre Company’s alfresco adaptation of Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers is coming to the grounds of Sedgeford Village Hall on 18 July and the gardens at Mannington Hall on 14 August. Expect merriment, mayhem and misadventure!
Step into the roaring twenties with This Is My Theatre’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby at St Nicks Arts Centre in Swafield on 18 July. Discover the glittering world of the mysterious Jay Gatsby – but is all as glittering as it seems?
There’s much to enjoy at Norwich Theatre this season, including its free annual Open Day on 26 July. From 31 July to 2 August, there’s a new production of Verdi’s opera La traviata by Buxton International Festival and Norwich Theatre, featuring soprano Alexandra Nowakowski and the Buxton International Festival Orchestra. Eastern Angles’ ‘bold reimagining’ of L.P Hartley’s novel The Go Between is coming to Stage Two on 28 and 29 August, a haunting tale of lost innocence set in the Norfolk countryside at the turn of the last century. Expect original live music and stunning visuals. And created and performed by the artists whose stories it tells, 3 Migrant Women (Stage Two, 4 and 5 September) weaves together song, movement and storytelling to explore migration, memory and the cost of leaving everything behind.
Sheringham Little Theatre’s summer season brings six weeks of comedy, mystery and music. There’s Lend Me a Tenor, a fast-paced comedy set in a hotel suite ahead of a major opera performance (select dates 29 July to 29 August); the cult comedy horror rock musical Little Shop of Horrors (select dates 5 to 25 August); Night Must Fall, a psychological thriller (19 to 21 and 26 and 27 August); and the premiere of the gentle comedy On the Edge, winner of SLT’s inaugural playwrighting competition (2 to 5 September).
www.sheringhamlittletheatre.com
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men will perform Shakespeare’s Othello in the Lady Elizabeth Wing courtyard at Holkham Hall on 4 August. See this powerful tale of jealousy and deception as The Bard first saw it, with an all-male cast, Elizabethan costumes, music and dance.
Westacre Theatre is hosting its most ambitious summer season yet. There’s an outdoor adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility, the story of sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, select dates from 6 to 29 August, and of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors – the latter complete with toe-tapping swing numbers – from 18 to 29 August, select dates.
The Pantaloons are back at Dalegate Market’s orchard in Burnham Deepdale on 21 August, with their take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, complete with fools, duels and more than one case of mistaken identity. Laughter, live music and audience participation are guaranteed!
Sounds of the summer
Cromer Pier’s (www.cromerpier.co.uk) free outdoor Sunset Sessions are back every Friday evening until 4 September, with DJ Roy Kelly playing a blend of Ibiza tunes and greatest hits. On Sunday evenings until 6 September, you can enjoy free Chillout Sessions, also with DJ Roy Kelly.
Princess Theatre’s (www.princesshunstanton.co.uk) summer sessions are in full swing, with live music on the Sunset Wine Bar Terrace from Jammin’ Joe on Tuesday afternoons and Soul at Sunset with DJ Zola on Wednesday evenings – it really is the perfect spot to watch sundown over The Wash in Hunstanton. DJ Martin will play classics from the decades on Sunday afternoons from mid-July. Weather permitting.
Head to the Friends of Binham Priory’s Picnic 2 Jazz event on 25 July in the grounds of Binham Priory, with music from traditional jazz band DixieMix from 5pm. Tickets from www.wellsmaltings.org.uk or on the gate.
Take a pew
Binham Priory’s summer concert series kicks off on 18 July with ‘Flights of Fancy: exuberant music from the 17th century’ performed by Norwich Baroque, featuring works by some of the era’s most inventive voices, including Castello, Kapsberger and Schmelzer. Classical guitarist Xuefei Yang will bring ‘A Spanish Tapestry’ to the priory on 8 August, in a special concert marking the 150th anniversary of Manuel de Falla’s birth. Then on 29 August, the award-winning Kyan Quartet will make their Binham Priory concert debut, with a programme including works by Purcell, Elgar, Schulhoff and Brahms. The series concludes on 13 September with Intesa Duo’s candlelit ‘Voices of San Lazzaro’ combining viols and voice.
The Cavick Quartet – one of the county’s leading chamber ensembles – will perform at Oulton Chapel on 25 July, raising funds for this early 18th century Grade II* listed non-conformist chapel near Aylsham. Expect music by Haydn, Beethoven and Nordic folk arrangements.
www.historicnorfolk.org.uk/oulton-chapel
This summer, the Norfolk Churches Trust is hosting concerts at two of the churches directly in its care. On 30 July, St Peter’s Church, Corpusty is the venue for ‘Music for a Summer’s Evening’ with the Saltmarsh Strings, a musical journey from Dvořák to The Beatles. Then on 26 August, The Ralph Allwood Singers will perform at St Peter’s Church, West Rudham, with a programme including works by Stanford, Vaughan Williams and Bruckner.
www.norfolkchurchestrust.org.uk
Get creative
Selfmade Music is running a choral course at Wells Maltings from 8 to 12 September, providing vocal training for talented amateur singers and the chance to take part in the world premiere of Susannah Self’s oratorio ‘Song of the Golden Flower’ at Cadogan Hall in 2027. Some experience of choral singing would be helpful but not essential. Email selfmademusic@aol.com for pricing and details.
Norfolk Creative Arts in Grimston is hosting a series of pastel workshops in September. Artist Richard Suckling will teach two one-day workshops – ‘Pastel and gouache a dynamic duo’ on 9 September and ‘What to use and what to lose’ on 10 September – plus a two-day weekend workshop titled ‘Flower power with soft pastels’ on 12 and 13 September. Then Robert Dutton will teach a weekend workshop inspired by the Norfolk marshes called ‘Marsh Light’ on 26 and 27 September.
Visit websites for timings, prices and any booking requirements
