Over Eight Hundred (800!) Festivals, Fairs and Fundays are held each year across the East Anglian Festival Network region (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk). Thank you to all the Organisers (and their teams) that make all these exciting events happen. Click here for information/dates of hundreds of East Anglian Festivals, Fairs and Fundays *See Notes 1 & 2
East Anglia has a wealth of quality Suppliers, Contractors and Traders to provide the products and services for our region’s Festivals. Sourcing locally can have huge financial, environmental and logistical benefits.
Our region also has a multitude of excellent indoor, greenfield and street-based Venues and a rich vein of talented Artists and Entertainers (over a 1500 Events, Businesses, Organisations and Performers are listed on the EAFN Directory).
EAFN Membership is open to: Organisations and Individuals involved in the organisation and running of East Anglian Festivals; East Anglian Venues; and Suppliers who are based in the EAFN’s six East of England counties and provide a Product or Service that Festivals can use.
EAFN publicises and promotes the Region’s Festivals to Festival Goers across the region and beyond.
The whole East Anglian Events community should be congratulated for their significantly positive effect on our local economy and our region’s social and cultural well-being. *See Notes 3 and 4
Mike Wilson
EAFN Founder (and Fun Facilitator!).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-wilson-44911a21/
Note 1. A ‘Festival’ is defined as ‘A day or period of organised activities and entertainment indoors or outdoors to celebrate an occasion or time of year with an organised event (or series of events) to entertain and provide Fun!’. They can be Venue-based, Urban/Street or ‘Green Field’ Fairs, Shows, Concerts, Carnivals, Fetes, Galas, Fiestas, Jamborees, Pageants, Race Days, Rallies or Fun Days. Festivals can include all different genres and types e.g. Agricultural (inc. Town and Country Shows), Animals and Pets, Aquatic, Art, Business, Busking, Circus Skills, Comedy, Community, Crafts, Display and Performing Arts, Drama, Eras, Films, Fireworks, Fitness, Food and Drink, Flowers, and Gardening, History, Ideas, Illuminations, Literary, Music, Performing Arts, Science, Spoken Word, Sports, Transport (Air, Bus, Car, Steam, Truck, Van).
Note 2: There were 750 events listed by the EAFN for East Anglian Festivals, Fairs and Fundays (in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk) in 2023 up from 725 in 2022. After the two terrible years for everyone (and for the Events Industry especially) these totals surpassed the 702 events we listed in 2019 pre-pandemic. In 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions the vast majority of our Festivals Fairs and Fundays in the region had to be cancelled or postponed. However 39 live events did take place in one form or another and there were 69 Virtual events online. Things improved in 2021 with 445 events listed.
Note 3: The EAFN Survey ‘The Benefits of East Anglian Festivals‘ estimated that our region’s 700 plus Festivals, Fairs and Fundays raise over £20 Million for Charity and the local Community. This is just fundraising and the benefits to the local economy are estimated to be over £2 Billion!
Note 4: In total, the UK’s events industry is estimated to be worth £70 billion in direct spend, accounting for over 50% of the UK visitor economy. Over £31 billion of this total is comprised of business events, principally meetings, conferences, and exhibitions, while almost £39 billion is contributed by leisure events, including arts and cultural events, music events and festivals, and sporting and recreational events (Source – The UK Events Report 2020)
