Wrong Jovi: Bon Jovi Tribute
Date: 27 June 2026Times:
EVENT HIGHLIGHT
If the heat and the smell of barbecues didn’t clue you in, summer has (finally) made its way to Britain. To welcome it in, we’ve had the likes of a fantastically-fancy-dressed disco, an AC/DC tribute that left us all thunderstruck, and a perfectly chaotic bingo night hosted by yours truly. But our most recent band night has somehow warmed the heart of HCC more than the recent heatwave.
After a 40 degree week, with no signs of cooling, we HCC staff members were livin’ on a prayer (haha), anxious over the turnout for Wrong Jovi’s gig on Saturday, the 27th of June.
Thankfully the community pulled through, with locals and Bon Jovi superfans alike braving the heat. What followed was one wild night, jam-packed with heavenly guitar solos, rockstar energy, and enough cold sparks to light up anyone’s night. By the end of the night, it was easy to see why people were calling Wrong Jovi “better than the real thing.” This fantastic band kept people headbanging and hitting the air guitar on the dancefloor for their entire set.
And to top that (yes, it’s possible!) the night ended with the England squad going head-to-head with Panama in their last match of the group stages. A slow start to the game gave punters a moment to catch their breath after a night full of rockin’, but, thanks to Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, the match ended 2-0 to England, sending the Three Lions into the knockout stages.
With more band nights to come at HCC, and more games to come for England, this summer could boast victories for our community and country.
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Claire Daverly in Conversation with Keith Britten.
Date: 26 July 2026Times: Starts 4pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
Claire Daverley was born in 1991 and has been writing stories ever since she was six years old.
After graduating with a degree in Fine Art from the University of Oxford, she began a career in publishing, writing about books by day but penning her own by night. Her debut novel, Talking at Night, was nominated in the Debut of the Year category at the Nibbies and shortlisted for the Nota Bene prize.
Claire will be talking about her highly anticipated second novel people in love, a love triangle you’ll never forget, a story that asks what would happen if the one who got away… came back.
James Briggs in conversation with Kayleigh Poacher
Date: 26 July 2026Times: 6pm – 10:30pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
A lifelong David Bowie fan, James Briggs will be talking about his first book From Ibiza To The Norfolk Broads. Part rock biography, part memoir and part sociology, the book traces James’ inspirational and often hilarious journey criss-crossing Europe, in the steps of his musical hero.
James is a writer specialising in music and travel who has written for the Guardian, the Irish Times and various travel magazines. Originally from Somerset, he now lives in London.
Followed by The Man Who Fell To Earth – Film starts at 7.30pm
Continuing the theme to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of David Bowie, and on the 50th anniversary of its release.
1976 British science fantasy drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg and adapted by Paul Mayersberg. Based on Walter Tevis’s 1963 novel, the film follows an extra-terrestrial named Thomas Jerome Newton (David Bowie) who crash-lands on Earth seeking a way to ship water to his planet, which is suffering from a severe drought, but finds himself at the mercy of human vices and corruption.
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Land Art Now – Ben Tufnell in conversation with Amanda Geitner
Date: 28 July 2026Times: Starts 2pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
In the 1960s young artists on both sides of the Atlantic turned away from the gallery and went out into the landscape
to make a revolutionary new type of art.
Encompassing a wide range of practices and including elements of sculpture, performance, photography and conceptual art, Land art continues to be an important global movement. Indeed, in a time of climate crisis this form of art, which prioritizes attentiveness to and immersion in landscape, nature and environment, feels more significant than ever. Ben Tufnell and Amanda Geitner will discuss the contemporary relevance of Land art, taking in key figures including Richard Long, Hamish Fulton, David Nash and the late great Roger Ackling, who was based for much of his life in Norfolk.
Dr Amanda Geitner is currently Director of the East Anglia Art Fund, and a Trustee of the Houghton Art Foundation and the Alfred Cohen Trust. Ben Tufnell is a writer and curator. He was a curator at Tate, Director of Exhibitions at Haunch of Venison and then Director of Parafin, and has published widely on modern and contemporary art. Particularly, on artforms that engage with ideas of landscape and nature
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Peter Grainger in Conversation with Keith Britten
Date: 29 July 2026Times: Starts 4pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
Peter Grainger is the ‘creator of the greatest fictional sleuth you’ve probably never heard of’ (FT Magazine).
A former sixth-form English teacher, Peter is the author of 23 self-published novels, 19 of which are now scheduled for release by major British and North American publishers. Peter lives with his wife, sometimes a grandson and a dog in a cottage in the Cambridgeshire fens. He travels as often as possible to the Norfolk coast he once called home.
Peter will be talking about his life, work and writing and introducing us to DC Smith and the Kings Lake Investigation series.
Tim Sullivan and Rob Parker
Date: 29 July 2026Times: Starts 6:30pm
in conversation with Elspeth Palmer
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
Rob Parker is a best-selling crime writer. He is the host of Crime Central Manchester; and alongside his wife, runs writing workshops for budding young authors around the country. Rob was inspired to write the Cam Killick mysteries by years of holidays in the Norfolk Broads – during which he has never, he is pleased to say, found a dead body. Rob will be talking about the second book in the Cam Killick series Forbidden Waters.
Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director. His critically acclaimed crime series features the brilliantly persistent DS George Cross who has Autistic Spectrum Condition. The clever, twisty, touching and funny series has won an army of fans and sold over one million copies. Tim will be talking about his latest book in the series The Tailor.
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Melissa Harrison in Conversation with Jess Streeting
Date: 31 July 2026Times: Starts 2pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
Melissa Harrison is a novelist, nature writer, podcaster and children’s author.
Her 2018 novel All Among the Barley was the UK winner of the European Prize for Literature. Her work has been shortlisted for the Costa Book Award and the Wainwright Prize and longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She lives in Suffolk. Melissa will be talking about her life, work, and her latest book The Given World, a luminous story about village life set in the ancient Welm Valley
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Rilke – You Have To Change Your Life
Date: 31 July 2026Times: Starts 5pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
UK Premiere of a documentary about Rainer Maria Rilke.
Lady Gaga has his verses tattooed on her upper arm, Bono quotes him in his songs, a CD series with his poems recently achieved gold status three times in a row: Rainer Maria Rilke is now much more than just one of the most important poets in literary history; with his ‘Duino Elegies’ in particular, he has become an international life guide and keyword giver of a new longing for depth and seriousness. He also travelled all over Europe, lived in Paris for a long time and wrote a significant proportion of his poems in French, making him the Franco-German poet par excellence. This is the story of a phenomenon that still fascinates today and the search for the secret of its magic.
English Subtitles 52 minutes. Written and directed by: Thomas von Steinacker
A production of 3B-Produktion GmbH in co-production with ZDF and SRF in co-operation with ARTE
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‘Around the Area’ Film Screening
Date: 31 July 2026Times: Doors 6pm | Starts 7pm
All proceeds to the HCC Projector Fund
An evening screening of John’s latest compilation of AI-enhanced archive images from Cromer to Sheringham, Melton Constable to Fakenham, and Wells to Blakeney;
Plus a re-showing of ‘Holt’s Wonder Boy’ Reggie Fuller.
All proceeds and donations will go to HCC’s replacement projector fund.
Sara Bayat in conversation with Sarah Mitchell
Date: 1 August 2026Times: Starts 2:30pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
Sara was born in Manchester and spent her earliest years in Stockport before relocating to an island off the west coast of Canada with her family. She returned to England to join the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia and now lives in Norwich. Her short fiction has been published in various literary magazines and has been shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize.
Hesket: A Norfolk Haunting, is her debut novel, weaving a tapestry of a small village community in which each character has their own story to tell. With close observation of the natural world, the book describes how we are shaped by our ecology and haunted by the changes we have imposed on it.
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Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Date: 1 August 2026Times: Starts 5:30pm
Part of The Holt Bookshop’s 6th Birthday celebrations!
Kiran Millwood Hargrave is an award-winning poet, playwright, and novelist.
The Mercies was her first novel for adults and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller, named amongst the NYT 100 Most Notable Books of 2020. Her bestselling works for children, including The Girl of Ink & Stars, have won or been short- and long-listed for numerous awards including the Blue Peter Best Story Award and, twice, the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Kiran lives in Oxford with her husband, the artist Tom de Freston, and their rescue cats, Luna and Marly. Kiran will be discussing her work, including her latest book Almost Life, a captivating and immersive ode to both love’s possibilities and its pain
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Vintage Buyers Roadshow
Date: 5 August 2026Times: 10am – 3pm
Join us at Holt Community Centre for a free Vintage Buyers Roadshow, where you can bring along your antiques, jewellery, gold, silver, coins, watches, medals, collectibles and other vintage items for a free, no-obligation valuation.
If you decide to sell, we’ll make you a fair offer and provide immediate payment on the day. If not, you’re welcome to take your items home – there’s absolutely no pressure to sell.
Everyone is welcome, even if you’re simply curious about what your items might be worth. Enjoy complimentary tea, coffee, cakes and pastries while you wait.
Cash Prize Bingo
Date: 12 August 2026Times: Doors 6:30 | Eyes 7:30pm
See if you can win big at our ever popular bingo!
Malcolm’s Tea Dance
Date: 9 August 2026Times: 2pm – 4pm
Sequence, ballroom, latin and line
Soul Alliance
Date: 15 August 2026Times: Doors 7:30pm | Starts 8:30pm
Dance the night away to an evening of the very best soul classics.
Experience the legendary, earthy sounds of Memphis and Muscle Shoals. Let the lyrics of Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and Sam Cooke reach deep into your soul.
Skatopia
Date: 5 September 2026Times: Doors 7:30pm | Starts 8:30pm
This female fronted, 8 piece Ska & Reggae band. High energy band cover, Bad Manners, The Specials, Madness, Toots, The Selecter, The Body Snatchers, UB40, Marcia Griffiths, The Inspirations & much more.
Looking for a night of non-stop dancing? Get your tickets now!
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WCC: 2026 – 2027 Season
Date: 30 September 2026Times: Doors 6:30pm | Starts 7:30pm
On the strength of the enthusiastic response to the previous two seasons, which shone the spotlight on some gems of world cinema, the WCC team are planning a third season, again hosted by Holt Community Centre and supported by Creative Arts East.
Season tickets are now available, priced again at £25 per person, making the cost of a ticket for each of the 6 films a mere £4.16.
Once the season has begun, individual tickets (at £6.50) for individual films will be available online, or walk-in tickets should be available on the door on the night.
For more details on the new programme click here.
Please remember that all HCC organised events are fundraising events unless specified elsewhere. All profits from these events go to the Holt Community Centre (charity no 1046613).