Dereham Festival programmes should have reached homes in Dereham and the festival box office is just about to open.The festival, which will be between May 9th and 17th May, are well in hand and 15,000 copies of the festival programme have been distributed around the town and the county, according to Jim Stebbings, festival chairman.

Dereham Festival programmes should have reached homes in Dereham and the festival box office is just about to open.

The festival, which will be between May 9th and 17th May, are well in hand and 15,000 copies of the festival programme have been distributed around the town and the county, according to Jim Stebbings, festival chairman.

“By now most homes in Dereham should have received a copy of the 32 page programme, but if not they are available at various locations around the town including the Dereham Times office and Dereham Library, both in Dereham High Street, “ he said.

“Importantly too our funding arrangements have been completed with the successful application to Awards For All and the generous sponsorship of our main festival sponsor, Nuttall John Martin and a number of other local business sponsors without whom a festival on this scale would not be possible.” At a reception of the Friends of Dereham Festival the cheque from Nuttall's was presented to Dereham Festival trustee, Dorothy Sneesby by Dave Craft, Nuttall's Business Development Manager who commended the festival team for their dedication and hard work and expressed his company's delight in supporting such a notable community event in the town.

Advance booking for Friends of the Festival in now open, and tickets for the public will be available in person from the festival box office which will open at Dereham Library on Monday, April 7. Tickets will also be available in Nelson Place on Saturday, April 5, when members of the committee will be present handing out programmes and information, and there will also be a special competition with a musical theme open to everyone that day.

“We are expecting a high demand for tickets” said Mr Stebbings, “and early booking is recommended, especially for some events where the numbers are limited”. Tickets for Dereham Operatic's Diamond Years concert will be available only from Hallmark in Nelson Place.

A special feature of the Festival this year will be the marquee in the garden of the Kings Head Hotel, Dereham, providing a full programme of free entertainment throughout the week. The marquee will be the final destination of a parade headed by a marching jazz band which will go through the town on the morning of May 10.

Mr Stebbings said: “This Dereham Festival at the Marquee project has been funded by the grant from “Awards For All” and enables us to give the opportunity to more than 100 performers from across the area to show their talents. It is also only possible by the generous co-operation of the Kings Head Hotel. We are very excited about this new element to supplement our main programme which gives the opportunity for so many people to be involved in our town's festival”.

Details of the daily events in the marquee will be published around the end of April.

Visit www.derehamfestival.org.uk