The Event Programme!

Here it is, the whole lot of confirmed events and acts all in one place. Phew! What an incredible amount of stuff. Well done to everyone organising, it's going to be brilliant. Everybody pray for sunshine now...

Click on the image below for a full size view which you can also save or print out.

In the Local Press - Again!

Stacia Briggs took up the Magdalen Street Celebration story in a great double page spread in the Eastern Daily Press...

"Magdalen Street - famous for rebels, royals and regrets - it was stormed by Robert Kett's army, visited by Queens Elizabeth I and II and subject to some of the least sympathetic town planning decisions ever made in Norwich.

Now the street is hoping to create its own history with a magnificent street festival on October 2, which will see the area transformed into a vibrant celebration of the most diverse neighbourhood in the city.

Visitors will be able to learn more about the incredible history of the area, sample the unique collection of shops, meet other residents and an array of activities including performances by local musicians and artists, workshops, art exhibitions and a fashion parade starring vintage and second hand clothes shops sourced on Magdalen Street itself."

(from the EDP2 article on 23 September 2010 - will post a link to full article when I can find one!)

New Poster!

New poster is up and about on the street with many of the confirmed events and acts on it. There's lots more stuff going on too including busking musicians also appearing at The Window Coffee Shop on Fye Bridge Street!

An up-to-date schedule of events will be posted up here on Wednesday 29th Sept so watch this space!

Historic Quarter is Most Vibrant in City

On October 2nd, Magdalen Street is celebrating its unique character in street festival style with performances, exhibitions, workshops, social events and unusual shopping opportunities.  

The goal of the day is to bring together neighbourhood residents with the street's many fans to highlight its role as the hub of creative, independently-owned, ethnically diverse and environmentally sustainable businesses.

Magdalen Street is one of the city's best-kept secrets. Although it's just a 5 minute walk from the Cathedral it is not as well known as the Norwich Lanes. It was home to Norwich's Strangers for more than five hundred years and it continues to attract people from all over the world. Magdalen St. was the subject of an innovative make-over in 1959 – work that was admired nationwide and copied by Councils keen to regenerate run-down areas – is now positioned to be a model of community-led development.

Organised by local residents and members of Transition Norwich, the event will bring together artists and artisans, musicians and performers, traders, residents and local groups.

There is plenty of opportunity for people to get involved. Help will be needed ahead of the event for:

· a cleanup of the flyover area to ready it for use as a performance area (Sat 26th Sept - see post below)

· liasing with the many street musicians and performers

· we need people who live locally to the street to be a 'human book’ and share with visitors about the history of the area

And on the day, you can help by:

· being a steward – helping people who may be lost or need help finding an activity

· decorating the street – putting up bunting, blowing up balloons!

· Help set up and cue local bands at the Flyover Stage

Helen Simpson-Slapp, one of the organisers said: “We are creating a street festival to bring the community together to have fun, but also we would like to see a long lasting effect. There's no reason why this festival should not continue and grow over the years, and help connect people in this area of the City”.

Rachel Lalchan joined the organising group after arriving in Norwich from South London where she had set up a Transition group: “ Having moved to a new city, I was keen to be involved in local community life and taking part in this group event enables me to do just that. It also means I get to know my local area really well and Magdalen Street is a wonderful place that seems to be continuously evolving”.

Lend a hand in the Big Cleanup

When: Sunday 26th September 1pm to 4pm

What: Reclaim the flyover - a neighborhood tidy up of the area under the flyover to prepare it for use as a performance area on the October 2nd Magdalen Street Celebration. Come meet your neighbors and members of the Green Gym and who are helping us!

Details: Work entails raking off the rubble, trimming the bushes, leveling the ground for a stage. We need as many hands on deck as possible. Bring gloves if you have them. We may also clean up the empty storefronts in Anglia Square that will be used as exhibition and workshop space for the Celebration.

Contact Lynn at lynn@spinvent.co.uk or just turn up on the day - you're bound see us beavering away!

Volunteers Please!

Preparations are well under way but in order to make sure everyone has a great time we need volunteers on the day and leading up to the event. If you can help in any way then please contact Helenofnorwich@hotmail.com, 07747 751656 for more details or just turn up to a meeting...

We have several meetings in September at Aladdins Café on Magdalen Street (opposite army careers office). You are welcome to come to any meetings to find out more... 8th September, 22nd September, 29th September 6.30-9pm

Could you help ...?
be a book in a human library - we need people who live locally to the street to a ‘book’ people can talk to you about what its like to live there (contact Oz Osbourne for more details 07812540684)
be a steward on the day - we need 20 stewards to be around in case anyone needs help or is lost
help to arrange musical events - we have a great line up of local bands playing under the flyover, someone needs to help organize them and cue them on
help with workshops - two helpers are needed to take money as people come into the workshops and write their names down
clean up empty shops - before the day the shops need to be cleaned up
clean up under the flyover - before the day the area under the flyover needs to be cleared
help to decorate the street - early on Saturday we need some people to put up bunting, blow up balloons and more...

Contact Helenofnorwich@hotmail.com or 07747 751656 for more details or just turn up to a meeting!

Latest Happenings!

There will be a fuller report on this tomorrow (Friday 2nd Sept). For now, here's the draft 'press release' which hopefully gives you a flavour of what's going on (click on the image here and a bigger readable version should come up). There's is tons of stuff happening behind the scenes and loads of energy going into this from lots of folks from around the area - the buzz is getting quite intense although we realise there hasn't been enough publicity out there yet with all the traders, and we haven't got to speak to everyone about it in person, even though there were the best laid plans and intentions to do so, we simply didn't have enough people on the case but that seems to be changing! A new poster will be getting sorted this week also and hopefully be out there on the street next week.

There's also new meeting dates for anyone wanting to get involved in organising the big day - Wednesdays 8th, 22nd and 29th of September at Aladdins, the new café opposite the big Oxfam and Out of Time Records. See you there!