A nine day celebration of nature and creativity inspired by the unique North Norfolk landscape is coming to Cley, Saturday 2 July to Sunday 10 July.
With Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s
Cley Marshes visitor centre as its hub, Cley Calling will host events around the village of Cley Next-the-Sea and will showcase a range of creative responses to the natural environment.
Headline talks will be given by TV personalities Nicholas Crane, Simon King, Mike Dilger and each will be presenting their own portrait of how the landscape has influenced them. NWT Ambassador Ben Garrod will look at bones and fossils and give a talk on Norfolk’s deep history coast. And there will be plenty of music, theatre and visual arts.
Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Brendan Joyce said: “The Cley Calling celebration aims to show off this great landscape and encourage people of all ages to engage with wildlife, nature and the creative responses it inspires. Please come along and enjoy a range of events for all with a stunning Cley backdrop.”
The event has been made possible thanks to funding from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Family
Cley Calling will be bookended by two weekends of family activities. The first weekend (2 and 3 July) will have a deep history theme and feature “Hugh Mungus” the mammoth model and a children’s theatre show “Mammoth Adventure” during Saturday daytime. TV presenter Ben Garrod will be along on Sunday 3 July to share his enthusiasm for evolution and will be bringing some fossils to handle and illuminate the deep history context of North Norfolk. The second family weekend (9 and 10 July) will engage youngsters with the local birdlife and pond life. Children’s theatre shows “Flying the Nest” (Sat 9 July) and “Leaping Frog” (10 Sunday) are two of the best children’s shows currently touring the country. The second weekend will also offer ample opportunity for children to experience the wildlife on the marsh. Both weekends will have family trails to enjoy.
Music
Cley Calling has an excellent and varied music line up. Rozi Plain (7 July) is an up and coming star of the alt-folk scene. A big hit at the recent 6music Festival her music has been inspired by coastal wildlife for many years. She will be supported by excellent Norwich based singer songwriter Milly Hirst. The following evening English folk stalwart Chris Wood (8 July) will bring his thought-provoking songs and passionate delivery. Both of these gigs promise to be memorable evenings with the marshes as a backdrop. The innovative choir Big Sky will perform at Cley Church (9 July) to launch the contemporary art exhibition Cley16 and the week of events concludes in the church with a concert by North Norfolk Sinfonia playing music inspired by birdlife.
Theatre
In addition to the children’s theatre Cley Calling also welcomes Tangram Theatre (5 July) who will perform their show about Charles Darwin. A witty, musical take on the birth of evolutionary ideas this show is both entertaining and informative.
Visual Arts
The Gallery at Cley Marshes visitor centre will feature an exhibition of sea paintings by Norfolk based artist Gareth Jones who will also host a workshop (6 July). The Cley Calling week leads into the Cley16 visual arts show in which contemporary art will be displayed throughout the village.
For more information and to book tickets go to
www.cleycalling.com or call the NWT Centre at Cley on 01263 740008.