Editing King's Lynn (section)

==Culture==
===St George's Guildhall===
[[File:East front of St George's Guildhall King's Lynn.jpg|thumb|[[Guildhall of St George]]]]
The Guild of St George was founded in 1376 and acquired land for the [[Guildhall of St George]] in 1406, which was in use by 1428. It offered plays in the Guildhall, the first known being a nativity play in January 1445. This makes it the UK's oldest working theatre.

The Guildhall was used for meetings, dinners and performance until 1547, when King Edward VI dissolved the Guilds. It then became the property of Lynn Corporation and known as the Common Town Hall. Research by the University of East Anglia confirms as probable the oral history of King's Lynn that William Shakespeare performed in the Guildhall in 1593. This is the only still-working theatre in the world that can credibly claim to have hosted Shakespeare. In 1766, Guildhall shows were so popular that a new interior was built inside the present structure, probably on the earlier footprint. By 1945, the Guildhall was almost derelict and in danger of demolition. It was bought by Alexander Penrose, who gave it to the National Trust in 1951. The Pilgrim Trust, Arts Council and public subscription led to conversion into an Arts Centre. [[Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother]] opened it in July 1951 and launched the King's Lynn Festival.

Today, the Guildhall is owned by the National Trust and leased to the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Various groups hire the building for a year-round programme of theatre, dance, music, lectures and film; amongst them are Shakespeare's Guildhall Trust, King's Lynn Festival, King's Lynn Community Cinema Club. Shakespeare's Guildhall Trust have volunteers who open the theatre to visitors.

===Arts===
Composer [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] visited King's Lynn in January 1905 and collected several folk songs from the area.<ref>Vaughan Williams, Ursula ''R.V.W. A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams''. Oxford University Press, 1964/1988, p. 72.</ref>

[[Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy|Ruth, Lady Fermoy]], a concert pianist, moved to King's Lynn in 1931 as the bride of [[Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy|Lord Edmund Fermoy]], who would become the town mayor and local MP. She helped to organise concerts of high-standard professional music.<ref name="lynn arts festival history">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kingslynnfestival.org.uk/about-us/history |title=History of the King's Lynn Festival |access-date=8 July 2014 |work=kingslynnfestival.org.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103191936/http://www.kingslynnfestival.org.uk/about-us/history-hall-of-fame |archive-date=3 November 2014}}</ref>

In 1951, Lady Fermoy complemented the [[Festival of Britain]] with a King's Lynn Festival of the Arts. She was a friend and [[lady-in-waiting]] to [[Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother|Queen Elizabeth]] – later the Queen Mother – who agreed to become the festival patron and, in July 1951, officially opened the restored St George's Guildhall. She remained an enthusiastic and active supporter and patron of the festival until her death in March 2002.<ref name="lynn arts festival history"/>

The King's Lynn Festival remains the premier music and arts festival in West Norfolk. It is primarily known for classical music, but also hosts jazz, choral, folk, opera, dance, films, talks and exhibitions, along with fringe events each year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kingslynnfestival.org.uk/ |title=King's Lynn Festival |access-date=8 December 2021}}</ref>

The King's Lynn Literature Festival, amalgamating the previous annual Poetry and Fiction Festivals, is held over a weekend in September each year, usually in the town hall.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://kllitfests.com/our-history/ |title=King's Lynn Literature Festivals |access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref> The Annual [[Hanse]] Festival first took place in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://u3asites.org.uk/files/k/kingslynn/docs/medievalhanseaticleague.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022083249/http://u3asites.org.uk/files/k/kingslynn/docs/medievalhanseaticleague.pdf |archive-date=2016-10-22 |url-status=live |title=Hanseatic League|website=U3asutes.org.uk |access-date=10 September 2019}}</ref>

===Displays===
Stories of Lynn museum opened in March 2016, as part of the King's Lynn Town Hall complex. Set within the newly-revealed vaulted undercroft of the 15th-century Trinity Guildhall, it presents the town's collection in an extensive, nationally significant interactive and multi-media exhibition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stories of Lynn – Bringing the history of King's Lynn to life |url=https://www.storiesoflynn.co.uk/ |access-date=2025-05-12 |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[True's Yard Fisherfolk Museum]] displays the social history of the North End fishermen, run by volunteers. It includes a cottage and a smokehouse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://truesyard.co.uk/|title=True's yard Fisherfolk Museum - places to visit in King's Lynn|website=Truesyard.co.uk|access-date=27 May 2022}}</ref> Since 2013, there has been a local award-winning Military Museum operated by The Bridge for Heroes Charity to raise funds.<ref name="Charity site">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebridgeforheroes.org/|title=Home|website=Thebridgeforheroes.org|access-date=27 May 2022}}</ref> Lynn Museum, run by Norfolk Museums Service in Market Street, covers the town's local history and the Bronze Age timber circle [[Seahenge]].

[[Festival Too]] is held in Tuesday Market Place each summer. Performers have included [[Midge Ure]], [[Deacon Blue]], [[Suzi Quatro]], [[10cc]], [[Mungo Jerry]], [[the Human League]], the [[Buzzcocks]], [[M People]], [[Atomic Kitten]], Kieran Woodcock, [[S Club]] and [[Beverley Knight]].

The historic [[Majestic Cinema, King's Lynn|Majestic Cinema]] in the town centre now has four screens; and there are two further cinema screens in the town's [[Corn Exchange, King's Lynn|Corn Exchange]].

King's Lynn's main venue for concerts, stand-up comedy shows and other live events is the [[Corn Exchange, King's Lynn|Corn Exchange]] in Tuesday Market Place. Many smaller venues such as ''Bar Red'' and ''the Wenns'' contribute to the local music scene, along with acts from other parts of the country.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk/ |title=King's Lynn Corn Exchange |publisher=King's Lynn Corn Exchange |access-date=9 August 2012}}</ref>

===Mart===
[[File:King's Lynn Mart 1.jpg|thumb|right|The Mart on the Tuesday Market Place]]

In the 16th century, King's Lynn's Tuesday Market Place hosted two [[trade fair]]s that attracted visitors from as far as Italy and Germany. As the importance of such fairs declined, the Mart has become a [[funfair]], reduced to a single fortnight's annual event that begins on 14 February ([[Valentine's Day]]). It is also a memorial to Frederick Savage, who partnered the [[Showmen's Guild of Great Britain]] to develop new [[Funfair#Attractions|funfair attractions]].<ref name="lynn history">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kingslynnonline.com/kings-lynn-history.htm |title=King's Lynn History |access-date=6 June 2010 |work=Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk}}</ref>

===Sport===
The town's football club, [[King's Lynn Town F.C.|King's Lynn Town]], play in the [[National League North]] as of the [[2024–25 in English football|2024–25]] season. It was formed in 2010, after the original [[King's Lynn F.C.|King's Lynn FC]] was wound up in December 2009. Its home games are played at [[The Walks (King's Lynn)|The Walks Stadium]] in Tennyson Road.

King's Lynn's [[motorcycle speedway|speedway]] team, the [[King's Lynn Stars]], races at the [[King's Lynn Stadium|Adrian Flux Arena]] in Saddlebow Road. The track has been run since 1965 on an open licence. It hosted Speedway-type events in the 1950s.

One of the town's basketball clubs, [[King's Lynn Fury]], previously played in the National League out of Lynnsport and represented the town in national competitions from 2004 to 2017. Lynn Nets, formed in 2008, also runs a programme in local competitions.

The historic [[field hockey|hockey]] team The Pelicans, dating from 1920, currently plays at Lynnsport, having been based in nearby [[North Runcton]] until 1996.<ref name="Pelicans history">{{Cite web |url=http://www.pelicanshockeyclub.co.uk/history.php |title=history of Pelicans Hockey Club |access-date=8 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029004940/http://pelicanshockeyclub.co.uk/history.php |archive-date=29 October 2012 }}</ref>