Day One

Saturday, 31 July 2021

The day’s program is sold as a bundled package (Day Pass, £55, or All-Access Pass, £95) but individual tickets can be purchased for any single event. The full selection of tickets, with descriptions of exactly what sessions are included in each, can be viewed and purchased here.

John Lloyd: IQ versus QI

Video on Demand £3

In this session kicking off the Festival, Joanne Ooi, EA Festival founder, will interview John Lloyd, the UK’s most celebrated comedy producer, responsible for national treasures like Blackadder, Spitting Image and QI. Comedy, however, will not be the central topic. Instead, Lloyd will explain the importance of curiosity, why there’s no difference between culture with a big or little “c” and how he banished boredom a long time ago.

Generously supported by Andrew and Karen Sunnucks.

William Sieghart: Why Poetry?

Video on Demand £3

The Poetry Pharmacist, William Sieghart, will talk about the healing power of poetry and why he set up National Poetry Day and the Forward Prizes for Poetry. He will also read from his latest anthology, The Poetry Pharmacy Returns: More Prescriptions for Courage, Healing and Hope.

Spoken Word: Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa

12 pm - 12:45 pm, £13

Safiya will be performing a range of poems from her forthcoming collection, 'The Inheritance' to be published by Out-Spoken Press. Her poems have been cultivated from a groundbreaking new technique she is creating, using dance and body language.

Generously supported by Clara and Percy Weatherall.

Susie Dent: The Future of English

1:45 pm - 2:30 pm, £15

Renowned lexicographer, author and Countdown’s resident word expert, Susie Dent will share her observations about how language has changed over the past twenty years, the pros and cons of tech and what her favourite words are.

Dr. Gavin Francis: Writing as a Doctor

2:45 pm - 3:30 pm, £13

Award-winning doctor-author, Dr. Gavin Francis, recounts the first-hand experiences of COVID-19 that led him to write his most recent book, Intensive Care, published last year. But perhaps more fascinating, he explains how being a medical doctor has moulded his insights and perspective on the human condition.

Mike Figgis: "Can't put this guy in a box"

3:45 pm - 4:30 pm, £13

Mike Figgis is a polymath extraordinaire and legendary auteur on many fronts. Consequently, a conversation with him doesn't deserve to be shoehorned into a single subject, except perhaps "creativity". Among the questions that we will ask him are, why are you obsessed with Asian film? What is responsible for your bottomless drive to create and learn every day? What art form do you enjoy engaging in the most and why? What is your favourite piece of output as a creator and why?

Evelyn Glennie & Rosey Chan: The Power of Listening

5:15 pm - 6:45 pm, £24

A captivating double bill with Evelyn Glennie and Rosey Chan: The first half of the session will feature Evelyn in conversation with John Lloyd on the subject of How to Listen and will include a musical demonstration. In the second half, pianist and composer, Rosey, will play piano and showcase her inimitable flair for improvisation across a range of different styles and genres. To finish, the two of them will join up and talk to John Lloyd about their careers, music-making and how they both love to collaborate.

Generously supported by Dominic and Sarah Caldecott.

Roman Kosyakov: Scintillating Pianism

7:15 pm - 8:30 pm, £18

In this intimate recital by the 2018 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition winner, Roman will treat us to a recital of Bach’s Partita No. 1, Beethoven’s Sonata op. 10 No. 3 and Schumann’s Kreisleriana op. 16.

Day Two

Sunday, 1 August 2021

The day’s program can be enjoyed by purchasing an All-Access Pass, £95, Morning Pass, £30, or Afternoon Pass, £50 but you can purchase tickets for any single individual event. The full selection of tickets, with descriptions of exactly what sessions are included in each, can be viewed and purchased here.

Panel: The Ethical Carnivore

10 am - 11 am, £13

Against the backdrop of a looming culture war about the wisdom and desirability of eating beef, four experts will bring their unique perspectives to bear on the issue. Louise Gray, the name of whose book furnishes the title of this discussion, will describe how her experience of consuming meat only found or killed by her for two years, informed the way she thinks about meat eating. John Lynch, an environmental scientist, educates us about the actual (versus purported) impact of livestock farming on climate change. Hugh Somerleyton, rewilding advocate, explains his mission to reinstate East Anglia’s wilderness while Anna Beames, an environmental systems thinker, gives us a glimpse of the difficulties and challenges of putting natural capital at the heart of agricultural production.

Generously supported by Lavenham Brook.

Panel: Art in East Anglia

11:15 am - 12:15 pm, £13

In this panel discussion, veterans of the East Anglia art scene, Sally Shaw of FirstSite, Amanda Geitner of East Anglia Art Fund and Julia Devonshire of Original Projects, discuss the challenges of making a living as an artist in the region and funding ground-breaking art projects, all while broadening public audiences and pushing the envelope of creativity and experimentation. In short, what do we need to create or put in place in order to make the regional art scene flourish?

Charles Saumarez Smith: The Future of Museums

12:30 pm - 1:15 pm, £15

In this festival session, Charles Saumarez Smith, one of the world’s most eminent art historians and former director of both the National Gallery and Royal Academy of Arts, introduces his new book, The Art Museum in Modern Times, and explains how the modern museum has evolved to address the changing nature of art appreciation and museum-going. COVID-19 has upended museums’ traditional business model reliant on ticketed exhibitions, so it’s timely to ask, where do these institutions go from here?

Generously supported by Reeman Dansie.

Panel: “Let’s talk about sex”

2:15 pm - 3 pm, £13

Rowan Pelling and Daisy Buchanan compare notes on how behaviour and attitudes towards sex and relationships have changed because of mass media, technology, social media and economic forces. Both panelists bring a unique personal and demographic perspective to bear on the subject, illuminating the dilemmas of dating and loving in today's society.

Generously sponsored by Bulbeck Foundry.

Sustainable Fashion: Beyond Greenwashing

3:30 pm - 4:15 pm, £13

Best known as a supermodel who has graced the covers of 40+ Vogue titles, Arizona Muse is committed to minimising the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Via live video, she will join us in conversation with Sass Brown, scholar, author and Interim Dean for the Fashion Institute of Technology 's School of Art and Design, New York. They will share where and how the fashion industry can mitigate climate change - not just its raw inputs but overhauling legacy business models and fashion culture.

Generously supported by County Broadband, EA Festival’s Infrastructure Partner.

Spoken Word: "The Feel-Good Movie of the Year" by Luke Wright

4:30 pm - 5:15 pm, £13

Spoken word poet, Luke Wright, treats us to a riveting performance of poems from his newest book, The Feel-Good Movie of the Year, "These poems pull on the ‘tidy hem’ of responsible existence, unravelling the banal frustrations of online outrage and ageing friends ... Wright files through the shackles of cynicism to ask how can we let go without giving up." Bittersweet but always captivating, Wright's genius stems from his ability to marry verbal virtuosity with elegiac observation.

Music: Waiting for Smith

5:30 pm - 6:15 pm, £13

The singer-songwriter will treat us to an acoustic journey that traces his story of personal redemption through music. His concert will comprise new tunes written during COVID-19 combined with well-worn favourites in his trademark style of anthemic folk-pop optimism.

Comedy: Josh Berry

6:30 pm - 7:15 pm, £15

Viral stand-up, impressionist and character comedian Josh Berry will be interviewed (in various incarnations) by magician and prankster Archie Manners. Look out for a special guest appearance by Conservative Party advisor, Rafe Hubris (BA, OXON). Renowned for social media content that has received millions of views during lockdown, Josh has appeared several times on Dead Ringers and The Now Show.

East Anglia Showcase (Music): Nik Void, Talvin Singh & TAWIAH

8:15 pm - 9:45 pm, £22

Talvin Singh, Nik Void and TAWIAH share the stage in this adventurous tripleheader concert which is emblematic of the Festival's approach. Singh, the world's best-known tabla player, will be bookended by the percussive experimental synth of Nik Void and the astonishing pop vocal talent of TAWIAH. Though their musical styles are wildly disparate, what unites them is their defining musical excellence placing them at the vanguard of their respective genres.