Wild Paths

About Event

A multi-venue music festival spread across Norwich showcasing the best emerging bands and artists in a variety of venues and pop-up spaces, hosting discussions with key figures from the music industry and afterparty events featuring renowned DJs, live electronic acts and our late night jazz jam in a church!

‘Norwich is an enchanting place, little hubs of creativity scattered across the city… and down every winding path there’s something wild to discover’

Wild Paths returns to Norwich this October, presenting 5 days of the hottest new bands and artists spread across 15 renowned venues and pop-up spaces in the city. With a ‘Best New Festival’ award under their belts the Wild Paths team are back at it, inviting globally-renowned artists to perform alongside the best and brightest local talent and pairing it all with industry panels, afterparties, pop-up bars and food trucks. Grab your festival pass from the box office at The Maids Head Hotel and set off across the city, dropping into venues to grab a drink and catch some stand-out live performances, spanning genres from indie, folk, neo-soul and jazz to psych, post-punk, disco and loads more.

With a ‘Best New Festival’ award under their belts the Wild Paths team are back at it, inviting globally-renowned artists to perform alongside the best and brightest local talent and pairing it all with industry panels, afterparties, pop-up bars and food trucks.
Grab your festival pass from the box office at The Maids Head Hotel and set off across the city, dropping into venues to grab a drink and catch some stand-out live performances, spanning genres from indie, folk, neo-soul and jazz to psych, post-punk, disco and loads more.
Venues this year include everything from record stores, basements and cafes to an Octagon Chapel, a micro-brewery, a secret cocktail den and a skate park in a church.

Run by a local collective of promoters, designers and musicians, Wild Paths embodies the fervent independent spirit of Norwich and its creative community. Now in its 6th year the festival has become a staple part of the regional (and national) festival calendar, perfect for discovering new talent and catching intimate sets from the Glastonbury headliners of tomorrow!

The first wave includes a ton of exciting new acts, from the smooth soulful jazz-tinged sounds of South Londoner BINA. to Brighton’s Lime Garden and their unique brand of ‘wonk pop’, blending
disco with surf-rock and melodic post-punk.
Joining these two Wild Paths returnees is multi-instrumentalist Quinn Oulton whose sound skips between intricate jazz arrangements and catchy RnB.
Quinn’s live set is a showcase of his unbridled talent, from an artist who’s also played and produced for a number of other notable acts in the jazz/soul scene.
One of 2025’s must see acts Bristol’s Getdown Services join the first wave, with their danceable grooves and astute, hilarious put-downs of modern Britain – not to be missed!
For those that like a faceful of brass with their post-punk O. blend ferocious baritone sax with some very adept drum work while Y (spawned from members of Fat White Family and Pregoblin) deliver unpredictable,
sharp-edged riffs and a unique brand of jazzy wonk rock.
This year we’ve turned up the dial to 11 and invited a selection of heavier bands to play a skatepark in a church!
Local heroes Other Half are joined by the queercore, savage punk sounds of Shooting Daggers and innovative Bristol band Knives.
However, if you’re after a more folk-tinged, slightly softer sound then head to the Octagon Chapel for Brown Horse.
Norwich’s own six-piece make guitar-driven 90s alt-rock with the folk and country sounds of the 70s.
You’d also better make sure you catch Olive Jones, a London-based singer, songwriter, Olive draws on soul, blues and alt-folk to produce her sumptuous melody driven music.
We’ve announced our first after-party with Donna Leake – a mainstay of Brilliant Corners and NTS Donna draws sounds from all over the globe and all over the clock including jazz, reggae and psych.

There’s something for every palette here and we’re not even halfway with announcing everything we’ve got for you! So jump in now and grab a pass while they’re super cheap!