Let’s talk about the elephant in the room!! Making its Norwich debut at Rock N Roll Circus is a spectacular life-sized mechanical elephant, called Jagger! A real wow moment for the kids when they first set eyes on it, and for a lot of us big kids too. Perfect selfie backdrop.
Rock N Roll Circus Norwich is back after a triumphant debut last year – and it went so well that this year is expanded from three to four days: Thursday 20th to Sunday 23rd August.
We are extremely happy to be back too, covering one of the UK’s most distinctive live events for a second time, when Rock N Roll Circus brings its Big Top and festival village to Earlham Park for four days of top music acts and all the fun of the circus.
Unlike a standard music weekend, the event blends first class music acts with circus performances, workshops, market style street food, bars, family experiences and local artist showcases. The main stage is under cover in the Big Top tent, so unlike most UK festivals, there is no need to worry about the weather!
This year, the event boasts around 40 live artists and 40 circus acts, with a bigger festival site, a larger Big Top, expanded hospitality areas, a brand new GA+ experience and an ambitious new circus spectacular, building on the momentum of a city recently crowned the national winner in The Sunday Times Best Places to Live Guide 2026.
With just two main stages to navigate there are zero clashes of any bands and artists you really want to see, being on stage at the same time. Alternating the acts between the two stages worked well in 2025 and were next door to each other. The second open air stage hosts local and emerging talent.
The event has a 9,000 capacity per day, with a really chilled vibe; lots of families with young kids on-site on all four days last year and expected to be repeated this year.
Day 1, Thursday, opened with Manchester legends James headlining, before Friday welcomes The Streets who perform “A Grand Don’t Come For Free” in full, already sold out. Saturday delivers a celebration of British indie music with headliners The Kooks, plus The Vaccines and The Fratellis, all performing classic albums in full, joined by Sheffield’s Milburn celebrating the twentieth anniversary of “Well, Well, Well”.
The weekend concludes with a finale led by those Nutty Boys Madness, alongside Ocean Colour Scene, The Wailers, The Selecter and David Rodigan, bringing together generations of British ska, reggae and pop across the closing night.
Second stage, the “Discovery Stage”, champions Norfolk’s next generation of musicians alongside new acts from across the UK. Artists include The Molotovs, The Clause, Tom A. Smith, Tiny Umbrellas, Grace Calver, and Cruz Beckham and The Breakers
Headliners Manchester’s legendary James had three changes to their stage time, to 21.15 but they came on at 21.35 due to technical issues. Tim Booth in white fluffy jacket and a hat he discarded after the first song, did his usual pit walk along the barrier, singing to the fans up close.
Later Tim mentioned that they had to rewrite the set list due to sound monitor issues, adding they were working now so “we are going to do the best we can”. They delivered a faultless set of their hits and more, including the infectious, “Sit Down”.
The Molotovs, a young UK band band this magazine tipped when siblings Issey and Matt were schoolkids back in 2021, were really superb as usual. Great to watch too.
Their 14 date “Welcome To Urbia” UK headline tour in September and October is already pretty much sold out. If you can grab a ticket, do so soon…
Day 1 kicked off after a rainy start when the gates opened at 4pm, [but after this drought and the wildfires, I am not moaning about a drop of rain at all!].
We caught sets from:
James, The Molotovs, Razorlight, Seb Lowe, The K’s, Girl In The Year Above , Pleasure Inc, back after last year), and Girlband; who started as Seb Lowe finished, prompting a singalong to “21st Century Suffragette”. Good solid set and I liked them very much.
On the day the GSCE results came out, I’d say all of the acts we saw on day 1 deserve top marks: A*.
Razorlight delivered an hour long energetic show; singer Johnny Borrell gets topless halfway through the set!
Fourth song “Stumble and Fall” was a decent moment, as was “Girl With The Golden Touch”, with the crowd singalong for the chorus. The band will play Wembley Arena on the fourth of December.
The K’s pulled a lot of their own fans, telling us it took them six and half hours to get the festival. A rousing finish with “Sarajevo”. A band always good value for a festival.
Acclaimed high-wire artist Ellis Grover, who has been part of Rock N Roll Circus since the beginning and now tours internationally with Gary Barlow and Take That, returns for another year.
Norwich audiences will experience a new large-scale circus production this year, adding another layer of theatre and spectacle between the headline performances.
There is a big buzz around Irish/Cornish band Girl In The Year Above and they were very well received, delivering a strong set.
Singer Jennifer Ball was distracted by the amazing mechanical elephant which was making its way towards the second stage during their performance. She said: “All I can concentrate on is that elephant!”
Festival Director Ali O’Reilly says: “Norwich embraced Rock N Roll Circus from the very beginning and coming back this summer with a bigger site, a bigger Big Top and an even more ambitious programme feels incredibly special. To welcome artists like James, The Streets, The Kooks and Madness alongside around 40 live acts and 40 circus acts shows just how far the festival has come.
“People come for the music, but what we’ve created is so much bigger than that. You can discover incredible local food, watch world-class circus performers, find your new favourite band, and then spend the evening watching some of Britain’s greatest artists beneath the Big Top. Norwich has an amazing cultural energy and we’re proud to be part of it”.
* CHECK OUT OUR COVERAGE OF DAY 2, 3 & 4 COMING SOON *
Photos by Liam Battersby
Words by Kerry Louise
Recent Comments