After receiving rave reviews for its inaugural event in 2021, EA Festival 2022 returns to Hedingham Castle this summer. The event aims to be adventurous, current and thought-provoking. “It will be a real smorgasbord, with something for everyone,” says Founder and Creative Director Joanne Ooi. “I choose Issues and subjects that interest local and regional audiences but always try to present them in a way that is illuminating to audiences all over the world.”
Capitalising on the momentum of last year’s event, the Festival has assembled a star-studded line-up that includes Maggi Hambling, Paul McKenna, Anne Glenconner and Bessie Turner, among other creative and cultural leaders. Equally remarkable are the breadth and diversity of subjects on offer, ranging from political history (Lea Ypi and Simon Heffer) to psychedelic drugs (a panel discussion by experts convened with the assistance of Drug Science, the UK’s top non-profit on the subject). At the end of each day, the talking will stop and the music will begin. On Saturday, 11th June, the audience will be treated to a double bill of virtuoso classical music, violinist Elly Suh and mezzosoprano Clare Presland. On Sunday, 12th June, the festival will end with a triple header of indie music co-presented by Norwich-based Wild Paths Festival and headlined by Bessie Turner, the queen of the region’s indie rock scene. “In my book, it’s not about genre, historical period, style or subject. Rather, the question is, ‘Is it good or not?’ The success of the first festival can be explained by this unorthodox but common sense approach to programming. ‘Am I going to be riveted by what’s happening on stage?’ That’s the universal litmus test for each element in the programme,” says Ooi.
Last but not least, the thousand-year old Norman keep, which is the centrepiece of Hedingham Castle, will be transformed into a three-story art exhibition space by Cambridge Art Fair, a consortium of art galleries from East Anglia showing traditional and modern art.
All in all, EA Festival promises to be one of the region’s must-see, must-do events of summer 2022.
