Citizen magazine Summer 2024 - text version - City catches the colourful carnival vibe

City catches the colourful carnival vibe 

The streets of Norwich were filled with vibrant colour, fluttering flags, sequins, feathers and huge puppets as hundreds took part and thousands cheered them on in the Lord Mayor’s Procession on Saturday 13 July.

Along with a full day of fun activities and an open-air evening concert in Chapelfield Gardens, followed on Sunday 14 July with the Great Norwich Duck Race on the River Wensum, the Lord Mayor’s Weekend 2024 proved a huge success.

All free to attend and provided annually by Norwich City Council, the theme of the event was Norwich Loves You, drawing on the city’s renown as a place where all feel safe and welcomed.

The weekend’s main attraction was the carnival procession where entrants were asked to come dressed in the carnival spirit.

This year it followed a new route from Norwich Cathedral through the city centre to Chapelfield Gardens, with 40 parade entries joining Lord Mayor Cllr Vivien Thomas and Sheriff of Norwich Sirajul Islam with the city’s Whifflers and Snap the Dragon

The winning parade entries were:

• 1st Norwich City of Sanctuary
• 2nd Catton Grove Primary School
• 3rd Framtastics Gymnastics Club
• Runners-up: The Garage, The Common Lot and NR5 Community Partnership.

Activities in Chapelfield Gardens ranged from a bar area and a food arena with delicious food and drink treats from across Norfolk. There were performances from The Garage and Young Norfolk Arts Festival including a flashmob, carnival headdress-making fun, dance workshops, comedy shows and a range of stalls from local organisations. Norwich Museums Service presented two performances of a specially- commissioned history play From Norwich With Love on Millenium Plain.

Musical entertainment came from local bands such as The Misfit Collective and a programme curated by Voodoo Daddy’s Showroom; while Norfolk music charity The Black Dog Music Project, which works with people with mental health issues or other disabilities, also ran sessions.

The evening music programme included collaborations between Beatbox Collective, Fat Brass and the Ayoub Sisters, finishing with headliners the UK Foo Fighters who wrapped up the evening to a fireworks finale.

Collections taken during the weekend will go to the civic charity, The Benjamin Foundation’s BOOM! Young Carers service.

This year’s event was Norwich City Council’s greenest yet. The procession was 100% carbon neutral with walking or pedal- propelled entries only. As well as the environmental benefits, this made the event safer for families, especially those with younger children. The events in Chapelfield Gardens were also powered by 100% green energy, except for one back-up emergency generator for lighting. All stages and all food vendors used 100% renewables, with the council looking at the
whole event being single-use-plastic-free for next year. 

The council is working with ten other local authorities nationwide in a year-long pilot project to improve environmentally-friendly practices to ensure local council events are sustainable, reducing environmental footprint and conserving resources.