FESTIVAL HOUSE PH, THE

In the late 1800's this building was a grocers shop and this use would later come back to name the venue after a refurbishment. First licenced in the late 1800s we first see the band putting on folk music in the mid sixties. The venue qualifies in a niche bracket for a period in time when Norwich Rock was in the ascendancy. The pub was home to many of Norwich’s established rock bands, who affectionately christen it The Fez.

Featured a corner bar to c1980.
This bar was a delight of carved bar fittings and mirrored glass fittings. A Victorian gem.
Ripped out in the cause of `improvements'.

The Festival Public House/Resturant ??-May 1992

Grocers Ghost June 92 - ?? 1993

Franco's Jan93 - ??93

The Festival Public House ?? 1993 - Dec 1999

Closed from Dec 1999 to Dec 2000

Delaneys Feb2001 - ??

St Andrews Brewhouse - ??

The main difference between the Festival House and the other rock haunts of the city at the time was the residency of three piece band Route 66. The band played most weekends and would go through a whole host of rock standards from Motorhead to Status Quo. They did relaunch as Freebird for a while but soon returned to Route 66. The venue also had the addition of an upstairs nightclub called Samantha’s; it was also quite rock orientated but not exclusively. On a good night the building would often join in with the dancing as the floor and some of the adjacent upright beams were prone to moving.

SCENE: Renowed for Folk in the 60s / Jazz in the mid 70s and then rock bands in the late 70s / 80s / 90s

Picture courtesy of Jonathan Plunkett by George Plunkett