Festival of Thetford & Punjab 2024 – Ancient House Museum

This year once again Ancient House Museum will be joining in the Festival of Thetford & Punjab with a fantastic week of free events and activities culminating with a special free weekend on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July.

The Festival of Thetford & Punjab – which is led by the Essex Cultural Diversity Partnership – takes place in venues across Thetford and is a programme of cultural celebrations inspired by the life and legacy of the Duleep Singh family, the last Royal Family of the Punjab who lived at Elveden Hall in Norfolk.

Ancient House Museum, which was gifted to the town by Prince Frederick Duleep Singh, the son of the Maharajah Duleep Singh, is hosting a lovely programme featuring guided tours, special displays, a ‘posh peg doll’ craft activity and a cast of costumed characters.

All the activities are part of the Prince Frederick’s Thetford Museum project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players, with additional generous funding from the Thetford Town Council community grant, Breckland Council, the Friends of Thetford Museum, Norfolk County Council and Arts Council England as part of the Norfolk Museum Service’s National Portfolio Organisation grant.

The fun starts on Thursday 18 July with a personal tour of Ancient House Museum led by the museum’s curator, Oliver Bone. Oliver will highlight collections related to Maharajah Duleep Singh and his family and will outline our exciting future display plans over the next two years.

On Friday 19 July, visitors of different age groups are invited to make their own mini Maharajah peg doll in four delightful craft sessions led by Queenie Pegs.

Enjoy free entry to the museum on Saturday 20 July and discover more about the fascinating life of the Maharajah Duleep Singh, courtesy of a pop-up exhibition which presents photographic images, archival documents, cartoons and text to tell the real story of ‘The Black Prince’. Then explore the museum’s atmospheric rooms – once a Tudor timber-framed merchant’s house given to the people of Thetford to become a museum by Prince Frederick Duleep Singh.

The free Festival finale on Sunday 21 July offers costumed characters and the chance to handle real Victorian artefacts and more.

Ancient House is delighted to be taking part in the Festival of Thetford & Punjab again in 2024 and looks forward to welcome visitors to find out more about the remarkable Duleep Singh family and their connections with the town.

Maharajah Duleep Singh Pop Up Exhibition