From headline show Boy in a Lighthouse to a Bridget Jones star, this year's festival is set to be the biggest and best yet.
The Hostry Festival returns to Norwich Cathedral from October 13 to 28 with the themes of inclusion and diversity running throughout the event.
The festival was first launched in 2012 by Stash Kirkbride and Peter Barrow and also includes the Norfolk Arts Awards on October 19 celebrating Norfolk's cultural champions.
There will also be some familiar faces including Bridget Jones and Miranda star Sally Phillips who will be discussing her 2017 documentary 'A World Without Downs Syndrome' which profiled her son's condition.
The launch of the festival was held on September 3 in the Cathedral Hostry, where the majority of events will take place, and all the nominees were invited along to the event.
Mr Kirkbride, who is artistic director, said: 'It was without doubt the biggest launch night that we've held so far.
'A hugely successful evening where many of those involved in the Hostry Festival came together, just six weeks ahead of the full programme of events.'
Highlights at the Hostry festival include…
Boy in the Lighthouse
October 22 to 27
The central production for 2018 is Boy In The Lighthouse which is a world premiere for Total Ensemble Theatre Company.
Directed and devised by Rebecca Chapman, this wonderfully uplifting and gripping 75 minute Movement Theatre piece boasts a diverse cast of over 25 people, many with additional needs and those who have never performed on stage to those with decades of experience.
The show incorporates physical theatre, contemporary dance, soundscape, beautiful music and a script based on devising workshops held over the last six months.
Boy in the Lighthouse takes the audience on a fantastical journey through the imagination of a boy, abandoned, isolated and living in an ancient, disused lighthouse.
It is a window into the loneliness that can be felt simply by being a human.
Rebecca Chapman, artistic director, said: 'I hope audiences will feel elated by the experience of watching and enjoying an authentic theatre ensemble performing as equals and working to the very best of their ability to tell a story that will move, touch their hearts and inspire them to see that every person's story counts.'
READ MORE: EDP People's Choice Awards 2018: Vote for your favourite individualThe Human Voice
October 20
This double bill of Cocteau and Poulenc's versions of The Human Voice/Le Voix humaine should prove to be a major highlight of the Hostry Festival.
This moving study of a woman making a telephone call to her lover on the eve of something that will change her life forever is a highly charged tale and each half of this superb double bill shows a totally different interpretations of that very same event.
Actress Tracey Catchpole will perform Cocteau's original stage play in the first half, directed by award-winning author Wayne Adrian Drew.
The Poulenc chamber opera in the second half stars Norwich's own Lisa Cassidy, now an internationally recognised coloratura soprano, accompanied by celebrated local pianist William Fergusson.
Mr Drew said: 'It is a most extraordinary and revolutionary piece of theatre, which still has the emotional power that stunned audiences with 'the shock of the new' at the Comédie-Française, when it was first performed in Paris in 1930.'
READ MORE: EDP People's Choice Awards 2018: Vote for your favourite large organisationPaint Out Norwich
October 13 to 28
Paint Out Norwich is now In its fifth year and involves 40 jury-selected artists who create an artwork in three hour sessions around the city.
This year's event sees days dedicated to zones of the city including the market, encouraging artists to show off figurative skills, medieval day in Tombland, areas of redevelopment such as Anglia Square and museums and education which last year saw artists on the roof of Norwich Castle.
The works created as part of the festival will be showcased at a Private View Gala on October 17 with prizes awarded by an expert judging panel.
Painter and founder James Colman said: 'Norwich is our big satellite event but we have also been to Wells, Great Yarmouth and are hoping to go to Cambridge next year.
'We send artists into areas they may not have been and every year artists discover new things.'
You can register your interest for Paint Out Norwich here.
READ MORE: EDP People's Choice Awards 2018: Vote for your favourite small organisationFULL PROGRAMME
October 13 - Danceitation, 7pm to 10pm,Trinity Church Hall, Unthank Road, Norwich
October 13 to 28 - Paint Out Norwich
October 15 - Inspiring Females in the Arts, 9am, BBC Radio Norfolk Programme
October 17 - Paint Out Norwich Private View Gala, 6.30pm to 8.30pm, £10
October 19 - Norfolk Arts Awards 2018, 7.30pm to 9.30pm and aftershow until 11.30pm, £25
October 20 - The Human Voice, 7.30pm to 9.30pm, £15/concessions £12
October 21 - Dinner Jazz in the Refectory with the Ella McCready Jazz Trio, 7.30pm to 10.30pm, £29.95
October 22 to 27 - Boy in the Lighthouse by Total Ensemble Theatre Company, 7.30pm, £15/concessions £12
October 24 - Mick Collins' The Visionary Spirit Book Event, Blake Studio, Norwich School, 1pm to 2.30pm, £12/concessions £10
October 24 - The Rt Revd Graham James in conversation at the Blake Studio, Norwich School, 3pm to 4.30pm, £12/concessions £10
October 26 - James Boyd and Harriet Mackenzie Classical Concert + Q&A, 2pm to 3.30pm £15/concessions £12
October 27 - Sally Phillips in conversation with Stash Kirkbride + Q&A, 2pm to 3pm, £15/concessions £12
October 28 - Matt Frei Europe Editor and presenter for Channel 4 news and in conversation with ITV's Arts Editor Nina Nannar with Q&A and book signing, 2pm to 3.30pm, £15/concessions £12
October 28 - Gavin Hewitt BBC news editor in conversation with Peter Wilson and Q&A book signing, 4pm to 5.30pm, £15/concessions £12
Events take place in the Norwich Cathedral Hostry unless otherwise stated.
To book tickets for all the events visit the website or book in person at the Theatre Royal Norwich on 01603 598676.
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