Norfolk County Music Festival
Norfolk County Music Festival is a long-standing local charity which runs a unique two-week music education event held each March, at which amateur singers and instrumentalists perform for an audience in a non-competitive setting and receive helpful feedback on how to develop their skills. The majority of attendees are children and young people from Norfolk schools.
Love Norfolk funding was awarded to support the running of the festival in March 2024 and purchase travel bursaries for children from schools in rural and coastal communities to attend. This support is crucial to smaller schools who are less likely to have a teacher with music training. The charity offers bursaries for choirs in particular, as they consider singing to be the most accessible form of musical performance, without the need for expensive instruments.
“Watching my child and his school, who had been given bursary funding to participate, performing so brilliantly for the first time. What an achievement.”
This year, 4,000 children took part in the festival across 5 venues in Norwich and had the opportunity to perform in front of a friendly audience, helping to raise aspirations and increase their confidence in a supportive environment. Over 40 school choirs sang at the 2024 festival, and the funding for travel bursaries helped 113 children to attend from rural and coastal areas who otherwise would not have been able to.
“I have never encountered a year group who loves to sing as must as these two classes do. They are SO excited to perform, and we are looking forward to learning new songs and mastering some techniques, improving our performance and learning along the way. They have always performed with joy for everyone else in the school. This will be a chance for them to show themselves just what they are capable of.”
What is Love Norfolk?
Our Love Norfolk Fund focuses on celebrating and championing the many individuals, charities, businesses and organisations that make our county second to none. The Love Norfolk Fund supports projects in Norfolk that aim to make communities thrive, providing care and opportunities for people countywide. Funded by Norfolk 100 members and private and individual donors, Love Norfolk has been able to support more than 100 projects over the last year. These projects show the diverse range of community action in Norfolk, and the work that organisations do to continue to make Norfolk shine brighter.