For the second year Norwich has hosted Rock n Roll Circus; a festival which not only brings you the most epic bands and musical talents, but also awe-inspiring circus acts on the mainstage and surprises round every corner.
Throughout the course of the weekend the headliners included James, The Streets, The Kooks and Madness – a truly diverse range that saw some people committing to the full Thursday – Sunday tickets. In addition to this, festivalgoers were able to watch a very impressive circus spectacle in the Big Top mainstage tent with high-wires, fire tricks and aerial acrobatics – something which is truly unique about this event.
Having 3 out of 4 days to sell out reminds us that the East of England and Norfolk are not places that should be forgotten or missed off when organising music events. From when the gates opened punters packed to and fro from the mainstage and second stage – each act attracted a worthy crowd.
The festival was well organised; there was an opportunity to see every band with no clashes so you could easily catch all the best acts. The sun shone down becoming an unpaid extra throughout the course of the weekend, creating the most beautiful scenes for the bands who played during sunset on the second stage. However, exploring VIP, if the rain did make an appearance the mainstage was streamed live into a tent where you could enjoy the music from the comfort of bean bags and benches.
The VIP area made the festival a truly special experience adding to the circus intrigue. It was in an area through some trees which made it feel like an adventure to get there. There was plenty of seating, posh loos and additional food street trucks. Spending some time in the VIP area there were also exclusive extra circus performances, for example breathtaking roller-skating duos.
Thursday opened with Manchester favourites James, although they had some technical difficulties this did not stop them from putting on an incredible show. The set list was carefully amended with a ‘the show must go on’ attitude. There was no holding back Tim Booth from fully immersing himself in crowd, this gave a truly unique and memorable performance. In addition, Thursday had Razorlight, The K’s and Seb Lowe take on the Big Top stage. A personal favourite of mine is The K’s bringing unbeatable indie tunes to Earlham Park. Highlights of Stage 2 included, Norwich based band Pleasure inc who you could not help but dance to and also Girl in the Year Above who played their cover of ‘Teardrop’ which recently featured on hit show ‘Peaky Blinders: Immortal Man’.
Friday was the first day of the festival to sell out and had The Streets headline; despite the downpouring rain this did not stop everyone enjoying themselves. Mike Skinner was up to his usual tricks interacting with the audience and crowd surfing. This summer season saw The Streets have a bus shelter as part of their staging: a clear celebration of the 2004 album ‘A Grand Don’t Come for Free’. This transported you back to the early 2000s with him playing the hits, ‘Dry Your Eyes’, ‘Blinded by the Lights’ and of course ‘Fit but You Know it’. A theatrical personalised performance with the bus shelter being graffitied with ‘Where are you? Let’s be having you’ – a clear nod to Delia and Norwich’s football club.
Friday also included; Hak Baker, Juliet, Anthony Szmierek and Babyshambles to name a few. The rain made it difficult to enjoy the 2nd stage, but the selection of R&B and hip-hop artists still managed to attract a substantial crowd. Szmierek was a real highlight with his moving spoken word poetry set alongside the dance beats. Szmierek brought a real hopeful energy to the crowd talking about finding love. Babyshambles played their popular songs such as ‘Delivery’ and ‘Picture me in Hospital’ – they put on a great and authentic show.
Saturday was a highly anticipated day with The Kooks headlining the Big Top stage, this show was extra special because Cruz Beckham featured as a surprise guest for ‘Jackie Big Tits’. The band truly honoured their album ‘In/Inside Out for the 20-year anniversary performing hits such as ‘Seaside’ ‘Naive’ and of course ‘She moves in her own way’. Pritchard had a wonderful crowd interaction and spread the sentiment of manifesting love and happiness for everyone watching. Saturday also saw huge names such as: The Vaccines, The Fratellis – as you would expect, these bands attracted huge crowds packing out the big top tent. Across both stages there was also a real selection of up-and-coming bands which had a huge amount of support. From Fletchr Fletchr’s lyrically charged set, to Tom A Smith’s bright shirts to match his bright and lively set, to The Kairos rocking with epic guitar riffs and to the popular band The Clause which early on in the day had every ‘In their Element’ dancing around. A special mention to Cruz Beckham and The Breakers who exceeded all expectations and are clearly ready to break through and prove themselves worthy contenders of the up-and-coming indie music scene.
Sunday had a feeling of infectious love being spread around the festival. The headliners on the Big Top stage Madness were entertaining and there was not a song that you could not sing along to. It was fun, light-hearted and a bit mad – which matched the ska and reggae vibe of the day! There was clearly an unofficial Sunday uniform with a sea of unique hats – this just added to the joy of the day. Some highlights of Sunday include: a dance worthy DJ set from David Rodigan, epic vocals from The Selector, local Ipswich based reggae-ska band The Downsetters jamming in Jamaican style, The Beatles Dub Club brought a modern twist to some unforgettable classics and the Wailers creating an unrivalled feeling of unity with the hit songs. A special mention to Ocean Colour Scene who lit up the stage with British rocks songs such as ‘The Riverboat Song’ and ‘The Day We Caught the Train’.
Rock n Roll Circus 2026 was a truly memorable weekend that brought together so many people to enjoy a diverse lineup of creative talent through singers and circus acts across the four-day event. It supported both big names and gave the opportunity to emerging and home-grown talent from the region. It is exciting to see this event already confirmed to return in 2027.
Based in Norwich, Sally Reeder is passionate about all things music and is an aspiring music journalist. You will likely find her at a gig or festival in her free time. Inadvertently, she has the perfect name for the indie, rock and brit-pop scene with countless songs being named after her!
Sally is a graduate from UEA with English Literature BA Hons and Business Marketing and Management MSc. Currently Sally works as a secondary English teacher and her love of words, lyrics and poetry she passes on with enthusiasm to the students she teaches.
