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Visible Festival – Celebrating Neurodiversity in NorfolkVisible is a project launched by Nansa in 2022, created to champion inclusion, advocacy, participation, accessibility, and awareness for people who may feel excluded or unsupported because of social, behavioural, or developmental differences.
What began as a bold idea has grown into Norfolk’s first Neurodiversity Festival, held at The Forum (Norwich) in March 2023, again in August 2024, and returning proudly in March 2026, during Neurodiversity Celebration Week.
Visible exists to spark conversations, amplify lived experience, and bring together those who believe in building a more inclusive society.
Together, we can influence change countywide.
Together we can listen, and we can learn.
Together we can be heard — and we can be VISIBLE.
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What to Expect at the Visible Festival
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The Atrium – Stands & Exhibitors
Local agencies, charities, businesses, and professionals who support or champion neurodivergent individuals are invited to showcase their services in the Forum’s Atrium.
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Visible Voices – Guest Speaker Talks
Each year, the festival hosts a series of inspiring presentations from speakers with lived experience or professional expertise in neurodiversity. These talks take place in the Forum’s Auditorium and include opportunities for live Q&A. All talks are FREE to attend!
This year’s Visible Voices sessions include:
- Pete Wharmby: Bestselling author of: ‘Untypical and ‘What I Want to Talk About’
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1982966523251?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Hester Grainger: Unmasked and Unapologetic: Women, Neurodiversity and the Power of Late Diagnosis
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1982959055916?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Leon Knight-Smith: OCD and Me: Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1982962589485?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Emma Harwood: Dandelion Education – Diverse Minds: Unlocking Potential and Success
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1982962945550?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Emma Whymark: Neurodivergent Masking, Individuation and the Spiral of Becoming
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/neurodivergent-masking-individuation-and-the-spiral-of-becoming-tickets-1983973248393?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl
Recordings from previous years can be found on the Visible Voices YouTube channel.
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Visible Volunteering Project
As part of (and leading up to) the 2026 Visible Festival, we’re proud to introduce the Visible Volunteering Project – a new initiative designed to empower neurodivergent young people aged 16–25 in Norfolk to explore, express, and take steps toward community volunteering.
This exciting new strand of the festival replaces the previous VIP (Visible Inclusion Partners) exhibition. While our VIPs shared powerful stories of lived experience in 2024, the Visible Volunteering Project invites participants to co-create those stories in real-time – supported through a series of inclusive workshops, peer mentoring, and creative exploration.
Participants will develop confidence, build self-advocacy skills, and design their own vision for how they can contribute to their communities. Their journeys will be celebrated in a co-curated gallery installation at The Forum during the festival – showcasing identity, voice, and volunteering potential.
This project has been made possible by the Get Involved Innovation Fund – a new funding initiative supporting local ideas that help more people experience the benefits of volunteering.
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Event Venue
The Forum, Norwich, NR2 1, United Kingdom
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
