Wymondham Music Festival
Where can you enjoy a wide range of classical and jazz concerts, Sounds of Summer with popuiar young artists, street performances, a Teddy Bears’ Picnic for our youngest families and the ever popular Midsummer Jazz Picnic, all on your doorstep? All this and much more is on offer to Wymondham people every summer. Many events are free and others have affordable ticket prices with bargains for under-18s.
Born as Wymondham Music Week in 1996, Wymondham’s bid to provide local music for local people has grown into South Norfolk’s biggest and most successful annual arts event.
The Festival has always tried to be accessible, which has helped it to grow widespread roots in our local community. It has no wish to run an elitist festival with high ticket prices and exclusive events. It wants to draw in ever wider audiences, and include more and more people who do not usually turn out to listen to live music.
Our core audiences are from Wymondham and its surrounding villages, but visitors from outside the area increase each year and are an important boost to the town. The general economic benefit to the district is considerable – the committee purchases local goods and services each year – ranging from fees paid to local musicians and venues, to the design and print of publicity materials and hire of equipment.
Wymondham Music Festival is a charity with educational aims, and is an important ‘community-builder’ in a partial dormitory town where many residents can so easily live their lives elsewhere, to the detriment of local community spirit. All this has helped the Festival to secure grants from local councils and charitable trusts. It also attracts generous support from local businesses, and from individuals who for a modest annual donation become patrons. This means that the Festival can be planned knowing that the cost will be available from a range of income sources.
The Festival continues to grow in terms of overall numbers of people reached and the diversity of its programme. Its aim is to remain fresh and vibrant and evolve in response to the needs of our present and future audiences.
If you have a love of music and skills and time to offer throughout the year we’d love to hear from you. We arrange a public meeting each spring – a perfect time to come along, find out more and share your views and in the meantime why not check out our website www.wymfest.org.uk and join us on Facebook?
Click here to see our details on the Charity Commission website