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Alan Partridge Festival postponed amid coronavirus outbreak
The Alan Partridge has been postponed due to coronavirus Picture: Steve Adams/Getty Images - Credit: Steve Adams/Getty Images
A festival celebrating Norwich icon Alan Partridge, with hundreds set to attend, has been postponed due to the coronavirus.
Organiser Paul Wassell with some of the props for the Alan Partridge Festival Credit: Paul Wassell - Credit: Archant
The Alan Partridge Festival was set to take place this Saturday, March 21 at the Mercure Hotel in the city, but it has now been called off following the latest government advice urging against public gatherings.
The event has been organised by superfan Paul Wassell, 34, from Stourbridge in the West Midlands and after speaking to the venue on Tuesday morning they have let him postpone it until Saturday, September 26.
Mr Wassell, launched the event last summer as he was part fan groups but realised there hadn’t been a meet-up before and almost all the 300 tickets had sold out, including guests travelling from as far as Amsterdam and Los Angeles.
Mr Wassell said: “With the government’s latest announcement and people under pressure not to go out, it was in the best interest of everyone and ourselves to postpone.
Film premiere of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa at Hollywood Cinema, Anglia Square, Norwich. Photo: Steve Adams
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“The hotel have been really helpful and we are chuffed that we can hold it later in the year when everyone will have a fantastic time - it was the sensible thing to do so everyone can go.
“I was feeling horrible yesterday but now it feels brilliant.”
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This weekend’s event was set to include a three-course meal, quiz and a special guest who featured in the sitcom and he has also spent months scouring the country to source props including shuttlecocks, a Cliff Thorburn snooker guide and Terry’s Chocolate Oranges.
Alan Partridge is a parody of British television personalities, played by Steve Coogan, and he is a DJ on the fictional Radio Norwich.
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As well as a successful TV career, including 2019 series This Time With Alan Partridge, the fame-hungry DJ has also made the leap to the silver screen in film Alpha Papa which had its premiere at Hollywood Cinema in Anglia Square in 2013.
