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Paul Weston and Marcus Patterson are the co-leaders of Norwich Samba, a vibrant samba band that is seen performing regularly at carnivals, events and street festival throughout Norfolk.

In August 2007, Paul and Marcus went to Norwich's Serbian twin-town of Novi Sad to meet Sambansa, the first and only Samba band in the whole of the Balkan region.

"Novi Sad and Norwich are twin cities. They haven't met any other Samba bands so we've come over here to make contact, to talk about Samba and to talk about hopefully doing an exchange visit," said Paul.

Why an exchange?

"I wanted to set up a twin town exchange because I was aware of the differences between Eastern Europe and England and the perceptions they have of each other," he said.

"But what's actually changed while I'm here - what I've realised - is how much we have in common, and how similar Norwich and Novi Sad are.

"[Like Novi Sad] Norwich has got big paved area with shops in, it's got a river, it's got a cathedral, it's got a town hall with a square outside.

"It's got the same suburbs, it's got a vibrant arts scene, and it's got a bigger festival than Norwich. And everyone's really, really friendly.

"I think that's even more reason for us to come back with a whole band so that everyone in England and Novi Sad realise what we have in common, not what's different about us, because apart from language there's not much difference between us," observed Paul.

New opportunity

The leader of the Sambansa band also welcomed the twinning opportunity.

"We are having a good time with our friends from Norwich Samba. The guys came to visit us and to give us support, so we appreciate it," said Istvan Cik.

"We are learning new stuff and we hope to join in communities between our nations and towns and for Samba to connect people around Europe," he added.