Meet Oh Europa ahead of their arrival at Chantry Place

We can’t wait to welcome Action Hero – Oh Europa to Chantry Place on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th May as part of the opening weekend of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2023.

Get ready to get in the mood for love as this is your chance to record a love song of your choice, which may get played out on BBC Radio Norfolk!

We caught up with James, co-artistic director of Action Hero – Oh Europa, to find out more about what they do…

Why did you decide to start Oh Europa?

We were thinking about ways to have a different kind of conversation about Europe. We had the idea to invite people into our campervan as we travelled around Europe, and then one day it struck us that it would be amazing if we could record people singing love songs.

What is your favourite part of what you do?

Getting the chance to hear different voices from around Europe and hear heartfelt love songs and the stories that accompany them is such a gift.

What is your mission with Oh Europa?

In a small way we’d like to change the way people think about each other and celebrate our differences/similarities.

What are the future plans for Oh Europa?

Straight after Norwich we drive to Germany and then on to Greece!

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learnt about different cultures whilst travelling and recording love songs?

The Greek language has five different words for love.

You’ve travelled to more than 35 countries, what would you say has been your favourite place?

We had a real soft spot for Slovenia. It’s very beautiful and has an underdog feel that we liked.

What are you looking forward to about coming to Norwich? Have you been before?

We’ve never been here before! We’re looking forward to hearing what love songs the people of Norwich have for us. Especially if there’s any folk songs or traditional songs specific to this part of the world. We’re also happy with Ed Sheeran though. We’re not fussy!

What is your favourite love song and your favourite one recorded by a member of the public?

It’s really hard to pick a favourite because we’ve recorded over 1000 now and we genuinely love them all. Most recently we met a local busker in a small village in Latvia who ran off to get his keyboard which was powered by a car battery. He recorded 3 or 4 Latvian love songs and they were so great.

My favourite love song… that is a tough one! Probably that Lewis Capaldi one ‘Someone you Loved’ -it was sung to us by a chap in Switzerland and ever since I can’t hear that song without tearing up.

For more information on Action Hero – Oh Europa, read our other blog post, here.