UK's biggest outdoor bowls festival set to be live streamed

To ensure that no one misses out on one of the most-anticipated events in the world of bowls, enthusiast Paul Nicholls will voluntarily live stream some of the matches on his Youtube channel, using his own equipment.

Paul started playing bowls in 1992 at the age of 12 at Browston Hall Bowls Club but stopped playing when he was 16 to join the Armed Forces. He then made a return to bowls in 2018 at the age of 38 where he now plays at Acle Indoor Bowls Club. 

The first live stream will be for the Ladies Singles semi-final on Monday, August 28, at 10am and then the final match that afternoon at 1pm. There are also plans to stream at least one semi-final and the final for Men's Fours, Men's Pairs, Men's Triples, Ladies Pairs, Men's Singles and Mixed Pairs.

Tournaments taking place include men's, ladies and mixed teams competing for singles, pairs, triples and four titles. Each winner receives a trophy as do some runners up. Winners, runners up and losing semi-finalists receive prize money.

A tombola will run throughout the festival, raising money for Hemsby and Caister Lifeboats. Last year, £1000 was raised for Cancer Research and £260 for a local foodbank, Great Yarmouth Pathway.

The 2024 festival has already been confirmed and will take place from Sunday, August 25, until Friday, September 20. Applications will be available at this year's festival and available online shortly.

Fellow bowls fans and spectators are encouraged to support the festival and use the seating around the greens.

The Festival of Bowls is only able to go ahead thanks to funding from Visit Great Yarmouth along with sponsorship from Wentworth Holidays, Jack and Bowl, Princes Tea Rooms and the Prom Hotel.

Lyndon Bevan, chair of Visit Great Yarmouth, headline sponsors of the festival, said "The Festival of Bowls is one of the most eagerly anticipated events in our calendar when the players, their families and bowls fans bring a great atmosphere to the seafront. This year's live streaming will make the event even more popular, hopefully attracting even more people to next year's event, which has already been confirmed.

"Not only do we get to showcase the best outdoor bowls venue in the country, visitors can sample the variety of entertainment, restaurants, pubs and attractions across our destination."