Murs relishing return to Yarmouth for new festival

Pop star Olly Murs has said he is relishing the chance to relive some childhood memories after being announced as the first headliner for a new four-day festival.

The famous golden sands of Great Yarmouth will host On The Beach, a brand that has brought sell-out shows to Brighton each summer.

Its organisers said they were excited to "spread our wings" and take the festival to its first sister venue from 17 to 20 June.

Asa Morrison of Visit Great Yarmouth said it was a "fantastic opportunity" and a real statement of confidence in the Norfolk seafront as a host for major events.

Murs, who rose to stardom as runner-up on The X Factor in 2009, told BBC Radio Norfolk he could not wait for his show on 18 June.

Born and bred in Witham, Essex, he said some of his favourite family days out as a child were spent at Great Yarmouth and nearby Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft.

"It always brings back really good memories, of not being able to get on rides and being told off by my parents for doing something stupid," he said.

"It's a really great place - I look forward to seeing it again as an adult.

"Great Yarmouth is a great part of the world. Norfolk is great, I was up in Cromer at the start of the year to see a friend, it's just such a beautiful place to go and is always an honour to come back and perform."

Murs, 42, has performed in Norfolk on several occasions previously, including supporting Take That at Carrow Road stadium in Norwich in 2024.

Ahead of his Yarmouth visit, he joked: "I'm going to have to sing 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside'.

"The show is going to be catered for everyone, from kids to adults, and we'll all have some fun."

Morrison said he and his colleagues were excited by the "wider" opportunities the festival would bring.

"[It] gives people another reason to visit Great Yarmouth, stay overnight, eat, drink and explore everything else the destination has to offer," he said.

On The Beach started in 2021 and this summer hosted shows by Fatboy Slim, Moby and Madness.

Next year's festival is not only its first expansion outside of Brighton, but is understood to be the first large-scale staged event on Great Yarmouth beach since Channel 4 televised one-day shows there in the noughties.

T4 Pop Beach featured Girls Aloud, Blue, Mis-Teeq and Jamelia in 2003, and returned the following year before relocating to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.

Going further back, the BBC Radio 1 Roadshow brought thousands to the beach during the 1980s and 90s.

On The Beach said the Norfolk event would have "its own identity", drawing on the town's "long tradition of seaside entertainment".

The company said the 2027 festival would be about half the size of Brighton's, with a capacity of 5,000 people and "room to grow over time".

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