Wheatfen Nature Reserve in Norfolk, first established by renowned naturalist Ted Ellis, is a classic Norfolk Broads landscape and the most extensively studied area of wetland in the UK.
It has also been the base for many HomeSounds activities including numerous soundwalks, a two year-long livestream microphone installation and a range of special listening events.
Hidden Sounds: The Big Listen - Sunday 17th May, 2026
For Spring 2026 HomeSounds is creating a unique event celebrating the acoustic habitat of Wheatfen - a Big Listen - imagine a silent disco, but with nature providing the music.
Each Big Listen will last 3 hours, with HomeSounds director Martin Scaiff curating sounds and sending them through wireless headphones to listeners gathered around the pond at the Thatch hide.
Listeners can drop in and out of a Big Listen as and when they want. This allows plenty of opportunity for listeners to rest their ears, stretch their legs, explore the reserve and experience Wheatfen with a new found awareness. With their headphones on listeners will be immersed in both live and pre-recorded sound captured from the air, water and ground of Wheatfen.
There will be two events;
Big Listen 1: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Big Listen 2: 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Tickets are £5 per event and can be booked on the Wheatfen website here.
As a taster you can listen to some of the audio extracts below.
Audio Extracts