Diss top picks for Corn Hall's upcoming shows

A Diss festive tradition, Jazz at the Movies, returns to the Corn Hall on December 2 for the fourth time to present A Swinging Christmas.

The quintet, which usually specialises in jazz interpretations of film songs, was invited to play Ronnie Scott’s legendary Soho jazz

club in December 2012, on the condition that they played their set from “A Swinging Christmas”.

Since then, the band has played annual sell-out shows and a range of festive concerts every year.

Jazz Journal describes the event as “one of the finest combos in the country and a seriously talented vocalist”.

The People’s Cabaret workshop on November 29 will see artists Luke Styles and Jessica Walker work closely with participants across Norfolk to explore the history, ideas and uses of protest songs.

The People's Cabaret Workshop

Luke and Jess brought the first iteration of The People’s Cabaret to the Norfolk and Norwich Festival in 2021 (NNF21).

Now, working with participants in Diss and Sheringham, they will create a new set of protest songs, relevant to the challenges of our lives here and now in Norfolk, which will become part of The People’s Cabaret for NNF23.

In a series of in-person workshops, participants will have the chance to develop ideas and lyrics for their own protest song, and contribute to a new set of songs to be written in collaboration with Luke and Jess for performance at NNF23.

The next workshop takes place on Tuesday, between 7pm and 9pm, and will include reading out of ideas from the previous workshop, work-in-progress sharing of participants lyrics and songs, plus further creative writing time, feedback and looking at the next steps.

Email peoplescabaret@nnfestival.org.uk to book your place at this free workshop.