Great Yarmouth Festival of Bowls, the biggest outdoor open bowling event in the country, is getting underway at Great Yarmouth seafront, with some 1,100 bowlers competing over four weeks.
Organised by Great Yarmouth Borough Council and managed by Brian Grint and the Festival of Bowls Committee, this year’s festival is taking place on the Britannia Bowling Greens between Sunday, August 25 and Friday, September 20.
Tournament coordinator Brian said: “This year’s festival looks to be another big year. Great Yarmouth is the UK’s bowls capital and the seafront is the best bowls venue in the country – you can’t beat it for atmosphere, and people come back year-on-year to meet old friends as well as for the high standard of play.
“It’s not just about playing bowls, it’s about Great Yarmouth as a place. The players bring their families and go to the different attractions in Great Yarmouth. Everyone enjoys fish and chips, a cup of tea with a doughnut and you can’t go to Great Yarmouth without having an ice cream.”
Attracting novice and expert players of all ages from across the UK and further afield, the annual festival is free to watch, withparticipants competing in men's, ladies’ and mixed teams for singles, pairs, triples and fours titles.
Cllr Graham Plant, chairman of the council’s economic development committee, said: “This free-to-watch festival attracts hundreds of players from all over, who stay in our hotels and guest houses, eat in our restaurants, visit our other attractions and really boost the economy. It’s also a great attraction for local residents too.
“Having the UK’s biggest outdoor open bowling event in Great Yarmouth is something to be truly proud of. I look forward to seeing the bowls start rolling again this year. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the festival sponsors, as well as the volunteers on the Festival of Bowls Committee, whose support makes this unique event possible.”
The sponsors in 2019 are Eastern Counties North East Branch of N.F.R. Newsagents, Beach Terrace Tea Rooms, The Prom Hotel, Peers Premier Apartments, Sentinel Leisure Trust, Brewer's Chip Saloon, Potters Bowls Shop, Ocean Spray Restaurant, Belt Up Badges and Archant. Significant donations have also been received from Steve Smith, Bob Green, Mal Dixon and John Grey.
Businesses and would-be entrepreneurs around Great Yarmouth now have easy access to free business support and advice thanks to the launch of an exciting new Enterprise Hub.Great Yarmouth Borough Council has teamed up with the Town Centre Partnership to launch the service in Market Gates Shopping Centre.
The Hub is a new one stop shop for start-up, new and more established businesses and offers business advice, support, and training. Businesses can also book the space for their own business events.
The opening times are 10am – 4pm on, Monday to Friday. His Worship the Mayor, Cllr Graham Plant, officially opened the Enterprise Hub with a ribbon cutting on Wednesday 10, August at 11am, which was followed by refreshments and networking.
An innovative campaign to reduce plastics left on local beaches has launched today, with the aim of highlighting the importance of disposing of waste correctly.
Three new permanent #BottleShipsGY art installations have been installed in Great Yarmouth, Hemsby and Gorleston aimed at encouraging beachgoers to dispose of their plastic drinks bottles correctly, preventing them from entering the sea.
Each ship has been designed by artists Hatty + Young and has been inspired by vessels that form part of our proud maritime history, featuring plaques with historic information on each ship. Great Yarmouth Jetty saw the arrival of HMS Elephant, the Lydia Eva landed in Gorleston and Hemsby pays homage to its lifeboat, Sea Weaver. The BottleShips will fill with plastic bottles which will be collected for recycling.
Members of the public have been able to try out Great Yarmouth's new £26m swimming and sports centre for the first time today.
The new Marina Centre on Great Yarmouth's seafront Golden Mile, boasts a six-lane swimming pool, learner pool and leisure water with flumes; along with a 120-station gym, four court sports hall, 10m indoor climbing zone, three studios, and community spaces.
Many of the facilities feature stunning panoramic views of Great Yarmouth beach, with a central atrium and café linking the promenade to the beach.
The centre opened to the public on Friday 5th August, following a ribbon cutting ceremony led by Great Yarmouth mayor Cllr Graham Plant.
Mayor of Great Yarmouth, Cllr Graham Plant, has buried a time capsule full of memories relating to the last few years at Great Yarmouth’s new £26m swimming, sports, and leisure centre.
Back in 2021, the council invited members of the community to share their ideas on what they think should be included in a time capsule to be buried under the performance area in the new Marina Centre.
Items which will be buried in the capsule include events on a national such as Coronavirus updates, the Queen’s Jubilee and the 2021 census. There is also local news such as the media coverage for Visit Great Yarmouth Wheels Festival 2022, photos of the Marina Centre from the past, present and artists impressions and a photo of the current Mayor and Mayoress of Great Yarmouth, Cllr Plant, and his wife.
Plans to regenerate a riverside gateway site in Great Yarmouth are expected to take an important step forward next week with a move to compulsorily purchase parts of the site.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has been working on proposals to transform the North Quay area into an exciting new waterfront quarter, turning the eyesore area into an attractive entrance to the town.
The four hectares of land is currently in piecemeal ownership and negotiations to bring the land together have been slow.
Now the council is proposing to use compulsory purchase powers to buy up the land so that its masterplan for the site can be made a reality.