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.
Great Yarmouth’s new Marina Centre, currently taking shape on the resort’s seafront, today (Thursday 23 September) moved another step closer to opening its doors to the public when a ‘topping out’ ceremony was held.
Pouring a celebratory glass of locally-brewed beer over the top-most beam of the building, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Cllr Carl Smith described the ceremony as “a great privilege for me” as he marked the completion of the exterior of the centre.
He said: “We’ve now reached an exciting milestone in the construction of this landmark building. This new state-of-the-art visitor destination will be a major year-round boost for Great Yarmouth and the surrounding area, bringing great benefits in supporting the health and wellbeing of our community and visitors for many years to come. It is also a stunning addition to our seafront.”
With just under a year to go until the new Marina Centre is unveiled, Great Yarmouth Borough Council has launched a new art competition for children and young people of all ages and abilities.
Over the next three months, participants are invited to submit their very own version of the Olympic torch, either as an individual or group entry. A first name and age is all the information needed to be added to each entry.
The winning design would have their design sent to a fabricator, who will turn it into a torch. The torch will then travel around the borough in a relay race and attend activity days, sports day, fetes, and other exciting opportunities from mid-April 2022. The winner of the competition would be given the opportunity to be able to “pass the torch” over to our special guest who will be officially opening the new Marina Centre.
Great Yarmouth has been chosen by Active Training World, one of the largest endurance events companies in the UK, to host their end of season finale Triathlon.
Active Training World offers events most weekends of the year, ranging from running to duathlons, swimming, cycling-sportive and triathlons. Known for its friendly and community driven approach at events, the event organiser anticipates an exciting opportunity to branch out to Norfolk.
Cllr Carl Smith, leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council, said: “This is a great event in which the entire family can get involved; whether that’s as a spectator, as a group in the family fun run or going solo in the triathlon.”
Race director, Matthew Dickinson, said “We are really looking forward to this exciting new event, offering the competitors the opportunity to complete their season in style, with such an iconic finish line.
Great Yarmouth is to receive a large financial boost to help it increase its tree canopy in a scheme designed to engage local people with nature and inspire a new generation to plant and protect urban trees.
The borough is one of seven locations which are project partners in Trees for Cities, which has secured funding of over £1.2 million from the Government’s £40 million second round of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, a multi-million pound boost for green jobs and nature recovery.
Historically, Great Yarmouth town was richly planted with many urban orchards, avenues of trees and planted areas, and the planned programme of tree planting will help re-establish these areas with avenues and landmark trees, giving local residents who have limited access to green spaces a sense of connection with the natural world and providing a lasting legacy for future generations.
Great Yarmouth’s Wellesley Recreation Ground, which contains what is thought to be the oldest wooden football grandstand in Britain, and possibly the world, is set to be brought bang up-to-date with the addition of a new state-of-the-art artificial pitch area - and local residents and visitors are invited to have their say.
During a fun ‘access-all-areas’ event on Saturday, 21 August, everyone will get the chance to look at the exciting plans for the site, to see its untapped potential and contribute their thoughts on how the historically-important ground could be sympathetically improved for greater community use. Those unable to attend on the day can fill in the online survey.
Run by Great Yarmouth Borough Council, the ground is home to Great Yarmouth Town Football Club and Great Yarmouth & District Athletics Club, with community use on the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and tennis court. The football club uses the central full-size grass pitch which sits within the athletics track.