JANUARY
STAY FESTIVE
Enjoy the mesmerising Tunnel of Light through Hay Hill, Norwich, and festive projections lighting up the Norman castle, until January 5.
Norwich Theatre Royal pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, runs until January 7, starring Joe Tracini as Jack, Richard Gauntlett as the dame, Rufus Hound as King Nigel of Norwich, Dayle Hudson (Peter Beale of EastEnders) as baddie Nightshade and Linda John-Pierre as Fairy Fullobeans.
Cinderella runs at the Princess Theatre, Hunstanton, until January 1.
Operation: Save Santa for children age 5-10 is at The Garage, Norwich, until January 8.
My First: Into the Snow Globe for babies and children up to five sees explorer Lucy battle blizzard and dance with a yeti, helped by her audience at The Workshop, King’s Lynn, January 3-7.
Jack Jay and Ben Langley lead a cast of international circus stars in one of the biggest Christmas productions in Europe at the Christmas Spectacular Circus and Water Show at the Hippodrome Circus, Great Yarmouth to January 8.
The Norfolk Lights Express glides through the dark between Sheringham and Holt, illuminated by thousands of lights, until January 2.
The Bure Valley Railway Mince Pie Special trains run until January 3.
See festive comedy thriller A Murder at St Muttley’s, performed by Common Ground Theatre Company, at Diss Corn Hall on January 7.
DAY BY DAY THROUGH JANUARY
1 Cromer’s magnificent New Year’s Day fireworks explode over the pier and seafront at 5pm.
1 The first horse racing of the year is at Fakenham Racecourse.
6-22 The World Indoor Bowls Championship runs at Potter’s Resort, Hopton, near Great Yarmouth.
10-14 See Broadway and UK smash hit musical Sister Act at Norwich Theatre Royal. Disco diva Deloris’ life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder. Hidden in a convent she helps the nuns find their true voices and rediscovers her own in a show to raise the spirits and warm the soul.
11-22 It’s Noo Yare and favourite Nimmo Twins character She Go (Karl Minns) gives 2022 a ‘roight going over’ at Norwich Playhouse. Expect songs, monologues, fun, filth, and a few favourite Nimmo characters.
22 The new film of The Play’s The Thing, about Shakespeare in King’s Lynn, will be shown in St George’s Guildhall – the only surviving theatre Shakespeare himself performed in - followed by a meeting about the end of the St George’s Trust.
23 onwards. Marvel at the magnificent snowdrops of Little Walsingham's Priory Gardens.
26 Nobel-winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse returns to the city of his birth to give a talk What is Life? at the University of East Anglia as a guest of the Norfolk Cambridge Society. 
28 The Voice Project choir sings The Distance Between Us at St Andrew’s Hall. The collective choral diary of the autumn and winter lockdown will be performed live for the first time. It was originally shown as a film which won the ‘best experimental music short' at the Richmond, Virginia, International Film Festival.
29 The boys and girls of the Norwich Cathedral Choir, accompanied by harpist Elizabeth Green, sing Britten’s popular 30-minute A Ceremony of Carols at the Cathedral.
FEBRUARY
4-5 Norfolk Showground Antique and Collectors Fair will include antiques, vintage and retro products.
5 The first Norfolk garden to open for the National Garden Scheme charities this year is lovely Lexham Hall, near Swaffham, where visitors can enjoy its snowdrop walk.
5 Jake Humphrey’s High Performance is a stage show created from his popular podcast. The opening night of a national tour is at Norwich Theatre Royal. Jake promises a 'theatre production based on the learnings and wisdom from more than 120 of the most high-performing people on the planet.'
11-18 Norwich Science Festival is a spring half-term celebration of all things scientific for all the family. Enjoy demonstrations, exhibitions, talks, hands-on-fun and theatre shows – such as Mark Thompson’s Spectacular Science Show at The Playhouse on February 13.
11-19 Kings Lynn Mart brings all the fun of the fair to the town.
25 onwards. Find out about the dramatic discovery of a royal shipwreck, lost beneath the sea off Great Yarmouth for 300 years, and see some of the treasures recovered in The Last Voyage of the Gloucester: Norfolk’s Royal Shipwreck at Norwich Castle until September 10.
MARCH
4 Hear the Sheringham Shantymen at the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange.
4 Suede will be at the University of East Anglia, Norwich.
11-19 Scores of local artists and craftspeople showcase their talents and creations at the Norfolk Makers’ Festival, Norwich Forum. Nine days of exhibitions, demonstrations, free activities, and workshops.
10-12 King’s Lynn Fiction Festival.
19 Prue Leith will talk about being a restaurateur, novelist, businesswoman and Great British Bake Off judge at Norwich Theatre Royal.
25 The Norwich Philharmonic season finale is a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Halls, Norwich.
APRIL
Early in the month see the Vikings return to Sheringham with a spectacular parade and beach boat burning.
10 Easter Monday horse racing at Fakenham Racecourse.
15 The Great Yarmouth Racecourse season opens with a race day on Grand National Day.
22-23 East Anglian Game and Country Fair at the Euston Estate, near Thetford, with rural fun and attractions for all the family including a motocross stunt show, Army parachute display team, the UK horse-boarding championships, and dog displays and races.
MAY
4 Lulu at the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange.
6 Coronation of King Charles III with an extra bank holiday on Monday May 8.
5-7 Folk on the Pier, Cromer, has been described as the best gig on the North Sea.
14 Race for Life 10k at the Norfolk Showground in aid of Cancer Research UK.
14 Norfolk Cycling Events holds its Spring Classic Sportive at Swanton Morley with rides of 10, 30, 60, 90 and 100 miles for cyclists from young families to the super-fit.
12-28 The Norfolk and Norwich Festival brings a huge programme of arts events across the county. The first shows announced include concerts from the Halle orchestra, work by Brian Eno and circus in the Spiegeltent.
23 See Ben Fogle - Wild at King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, where the broadcaster and adventurer will talk about trips to wild places including Sweden, Chernobyl, Nepal and Honduras.
JUNE
4 Ladies Day at Fakenham Races.
6-10 The Royal Shakespeare Company brings Julius Caesar to Norwich Theatre Royal.
7 Arctic Monkeys perform at Carrow Road.
10 The Norfolk Superhero Challenge at Burnham Overy Staithe involves swimming, kayaking, cycling, and running through sand mud and marsh – all for charity.
11 The 200-mile Round Norfolk Epic cycling event begins and ends at Great Yarmouth Racecourse, and circumnavigates the county in between.
11 Find out about food and farming on Open Farm Sunday. Local farms will be welcoming visitors and hosting rural activities.
15-18 Outdoor concerts at High Lodge, Thetford Forest, include Anne-Marie on June 16 and Jack Savoretti, with special guest Natalie Imbruglia, on June 18.
28-29 The Royal Norfolk Show. Hold on to your hats for an extravaganza of farming, food and fun for all the family.
30-July 2 Folk in a Field Festival at Bradmoor Woods, near King’s Lynn.
Festival Too regularly attracts big names to the Tuesday Market Place, King’s Lynn, for a free, unticketed festival over three weekends in late June and early July.
JULY
Early July – Norwich Lord Mayor’s Weekend traditionally includes a parade, live music and street theatre across the city.
The King’s Lynn Festival fortnight sees performances of classical music, jazz and folk, plus talks, walks and exhibitions.
1 Gin and Rum Festival at The Halls, Norwich.
1 Harleston Choral Society summer concert including Haydn’s Stabat Mater and Mozart choruses, arias and ensembles.
2 The Pink Ladies’ Tractor Run sees women drive a convoy of beautifully decorated tractors between Thorpe Abbotts and Redenhall and is likely to top the £1m-mark raised for Cancer Research UK’s breast cancer appeal this year.
4-8 See the SpongeBob musical at the Theatre Royal, Norwich.
13-22 Paint Out Norfolk involves artists creating pictures in the open air across the county.
19 Ladies Evening at the races at Great Yarmouth Racecourse, including a celebrity DJ set.
21-23 The Norfolk Motorhome and Caravan Show at the Norfolk Showground combines four nights of camping with retro entertainment including jive, dance rock’n’roll and rockabilly.
21-24 See the English Youth Ballet perform Swan Lake at Norwich Theatre Royal.
22-30 Holt Festival, which often attracts nationally-acclaimed stars of music, drama, comedy, visual art, literature and cinema.
25-30 See new musical The Land of Might-Have-Been, based on the life of Vera Brittain and the friends whose dreams were shattered by the First World War, and created by Buxton Opera House and Norwich Theatre Royal.
27 Norfolk Day – when everyone celebrates life in our wonderful county.
26 Sandringham Flower Show.
28-August 6 Wells-next-the-Sea Carnival includes fancy dress competitions, a parade, raft race, sandcastle competitions and live music.
29-30 Worstead Festival is a celebration of rural life for all the family
29 Norwich Pride is a celebration of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) community with events aimed at helping all feel safe and proud to be themselves.
31- August 4 Sheringham Carnival.
AUGUST
5 Classic Ibiza at Blickling Hall is an open-air celebration of White Isle-inspired house music with the Urban Soul Orchestra, live vocalists and headline DJs.
6 The Wayland Show at Watton, one of the oldest one-day agricultural shows in the country, includes livestock competitions, gardening and cookery displays and competitions, a dog show, main ring displays, children’s rides, vintage vehicles and tractors, a shopping village and food hall.
6 The Black Shuck Sportive has bike rides for all the family based around the Thursford Collection, near Fakenham. Distances range from 10 to 90 miles.
7-13 Take That musical Greatest Days comes to Norwich Theatre Royal.
10-13 Houghton Festival brings electronic dance music to the grounds of the stately home near Fakenham.
11-14 Holkham Festival of Sport is a weekend of family fun with national and international sporting legends. Founded by ex-England rugby stars it is aimed at families with children aged five to 17 who can enjoy new sports for the first time and receive world-class coaching in the sports they love.
12-18 Cromer Carnival, with Carnival Day on Wednesday August 16.
14-20 Treehouse Festival at Brandon Parva includes camping around a reconstructed Iron Age roundhouse, traditional crafts, plus cookery and music.
Mid August North Norfolk Music Festival brings classical music to South Creake.
17 Hip hop group N-Dubz will be playing in Earlham Park, Norwich.
18 Pete Tong brings his Ibiza Classics show to Earlham Park. Norwich.
20-26 Hunstanton Lawn Tennis Week. Established in 1920 this is Britain's largest event of its kind after Wimbledon, taking place across 38 grass courts.
20 The Tour de Broads cycling event by Pedal Revolution takes in as many Norfolk Broads as it can reach by road, in aid of Nelson’s Journey. There are 25, 50, 75 and 100 miles routes plus an hour-long family-friendly ride.
24-27 Maui Waui Festival of music, performance and the arts at Hill Farm, Gressenhall, near Dereham, will include bands from around the globe, Americana, body painting, local talent competitions, circus shows, theatre, DJs, workshops, creative activities and children’s entertainment.
26 Robbie Williams plays at Sandringham in the first large-scale live music event the royal estate has hosted – and Robbie’s only UK outdoor headline concert this year.
27 The Festival of Bowls begins on Great Yarmouth seafront. The largest outdoor bowls tournament in the country includes almost four weeks of action.
28-September 2 The Bodyguard musical, inspired by the 1990s film, comes to the Theatre Royal, Norwich.
SEPTEMBER
1-3 The Sundown Festival brings bass and pop to the Norfolk Showground.
2-3 North Norfolk Food and Drink Festival in the Walled Garden at Holkham Hall.
8-17 Heritage Open Days open the doors to some of our most spectacular history, for free, across the county and country.
8-10 A tasty combination of chefs and music is promised at the Foodies Festival, Earlham Park, Norwich.
9 Norfolk Churches Trust sponsored bike ride and walk is a chance to enjoy travelling through beautiful Norfolk countryside past as many churches and chapels as possible to raise money for the Trust or the church or chapel of your choice.
9-10 The Sandringham Game and Country Fair is packed with crafts and food stalls plus outdoor demonstrations of country sports.
19-21 The three-day Eastern Festival at Great Yarmouth Racecourse is a highlight of the racing calendar with Ladies day on the 21st.
15-17 Out There Festival, Great Yarmouth.
16-17 Steam Back to the Forties weekend at the North Norfolk Railway.
24 Autumn Classic Sportive cycle event has routes ranging from 10 to 100 miles, starting and ending at Hethersett, near Norwich.
OCTOBER 23
10 Gabrielle brings her 30 Years of Dreaming tour to the University of East Anglia.
24 The final race day of 2022 at Great Yarmouth Racecourse.
21-29 The central drama production of The Autumn Festival of Norfolk (previously the Hostry Festival) is Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde. Look out for announcements about the full programme.
Norwich Beer Festival at St Andrews and Blackfriars Halls, final week in October.
NOVEMBER
3 The Autumn Festival of Norfolk holds its prestigious Norfolk Arts Awards in The Ocean Rooms, Gorleston.
5 Bonfire night with firework displays around the county.
5 The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine play at Norwich Theatre Royal
8-23 Thursford Christmas Spectacular.
10-19 Norwich Film Festival showcases new short films from around the world, including many featuring local talent.
26 Grayson Perry brings A Show All About You, taking a mischievous look at identity, to Norwich Theatre Royal.
DECEMBER 23
19 Fakenham Racecourse Christmas meet.
25 Christmas Day – and a bracing start in Hunstanton where swimmers in fancy dress brave the sea to raise money for charity.
