On a very warm and sunny 14th of August, the circus rolled into town, well into the city to be precise as the Rock And Roll Circus hit Norwich for a three day event.

Set in the wide green space of Earlham Park, just next to the University of East Anglia, the Big Top tent could be seen from far away. Crowds of people turned up for the gates, opening at 3pm and then many turned to the Electric Carousel stage where Norwich’s very own Youth Killed It, tore up the stage, opening the day.

They played a selection of their songs, including “Popstar”, Johnny Bravado” and their new release, “Lovely Day For It”, which was a perfect soundtrack for the day ahead.

Next on the Electric Carousel stage, Caswell performed, with The High Points following them, whilst on the main Big Top stage, Mama Oh No and Rianne Downey entertained the crowd inside the tent.

Outside, fire jugglers performed for the crowds that were enjoying the food and drink stalls that the event had to offer, as well as the afternoon sunshine.

In the early evening, The Hoosiers took to the big stage to perform their hits “Goodbye Mr A” and “Worried About Ray”, along with a selection of other songs, which had the crowd singing the nostalgic tunes they knew.

Next to take to the big stage, The Lottery Winners had the crowd captivated. With their indie pop sound, frontman Thom’s jokes and comedic stories, along with getting everyone in the crowd to sway and join in with a simple dance routine, anyone in the tent who wasn’t a fan of this band, definitely left as one.

During the intervals of bands, acrobatic performers appeared above the crowd’s heads to entertain the masses while they waited for the next band to take the stage.

Tightrope walkers and swinging acrobatics graced the high beams of the tent, wowing everyone underneath them.

Sam Ryder was next to take the stage, performing his new release “White Lies”, off of his upcoming new album “Heartland”, as well as “Mountain” and his infamous Eurovision hit, “Spaceman”. The crowd mesmerized by his unique voice and guitar playing.

The finale of the day was when McFly hit the stage and the crowd went wild.

Starting off with “Where Did All The Guitars Go” and leading into “Land of the Bees”, the packed Big Top tent was dancing along to their catchy beat.

Next was “Star Girl” with the famous kick dance routine that had the crowd loving every single minute.

Mcfly performed hit after hit, including “Shine A Light”, “Obviously”, “Room on the 3rd Floor” and “All About You”, which had the whole tent and outside singing along.

For the final encore, McFly blasted out ballads such as “Forever’s Not Enough” and “Honey I’m Home”, then going into the last song, “5 Colours In Her Hair” as the crowd goes wild one last time, singing and dancing to their first hit song.

At around 11pm, the crowds disperse, feeling happy, fulfilled and possible a little warm in the late night humidity, but day one of the festivities was a huge success.

For more information about Rock And Roll Circus, head to their website for more weekends planned this year and keep up to date with next year’s events too

RockandRollCircus.co.uk

Follow them on their Instagram too

@RandRCircus

The list of bands mentioned and their social media can be found here –

@mcflymusic

@samhairwolfryder

@thelotterywinners

@thehoosiers

@mamaohno

@riannedowney

@youthkilledit

@caswellband

@thehighpointsband

Words and photography by @hayleajaynephotography