Keep busy with autumn delights
It’s the perfect time to start planning the next few months – and autumn promises to be a season of fun, food and fitness in Wales. There are loads of events to keep all the family entertained and we’ve picked a few of them to make your job of planning yo
Festival Number 6
Where: Portmeirion. When: September 7-10. Rag n’ Bone Man, Bloc Party, Wild Beasts, Mogwai, Flaming Lips and Charlotte Church are just some of the talented bunch who will perform at one of the country’s coolest festivals.
And that’s not all, there will be arts, culture, food and drink.
Ironman Wales
Where: Tenby. When: September 10. A 2.4 mile (3.8km) swim, a 112 mile (180km) cycle, followed by a marathon, with only 17 hours to complete it all. Just an average Sunday really...
The Good Life Experience
Where: Hawarden Estate Farm Shop, Flintshire. When: September 15-17. Created by Cerys Matthews, it’s dubbed as “a weekend of fun and discovery with music, books, food and the great outdoors”.
Since it started, festival-goers have enjoyed axe-throwing, archery, abseiling, campfire cooking, yoga, crafts and culinary workshops.
Visit www.thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk
Abergavenny Food Festival
Where: Abergavenny town centre. When: September 16&17. Now one of the highlights in every self-respecting foodie’s calendar, the Abergavenny event features a market with exhibitors, chef demonstrations, a meat market, craft brewery festival and a night market.
We don’t know the line-up yet for this year but big names have visited in the past, including Great British Bake Off contestant Richard Burr, River Cottage’s resident gluten-free expert Naomi Devlin, award-winning chef and restaurateur, José Pizarro and Tim Hayward.
Visit www.abergavennyfoodfestival.com
Mold Food Festival
Where: New Street Car Park, Mold. When: September 16&17. This popular, highly respected food and drink festival is one of the largest in Wales and attracts more than 13,000 visitors and around 120 exhibitors each year.
It will feature the area’s best food and drink producers, celebrity and local chef demonstrations, cookery workshops, and live music. The festival promises another family-friendly feast of a weekend.
Visit www.moldfoodfestival.co.uk
National Theatre Wales’ We’re Still Here
Where: Byass Works, Old Dock Road, Port Talbot. When: September 15-30. Six years after National Theatre Wales staged its iconic The Passion in Port Talbot on Easter weekend 2011, the company returns to the town with multi-award-winning theatre company Common Wealth to stage a new play written by Rachel Trezise.
Inspired by conversations with steelworkers, union members and the wider community, We’re Still Here will be the first theatrical response to one of the biggest recent news stories in Wales – which resonates with steel towns the world over – and will feature evocative soundscapes and visual feats in the atmospheric setting of a vast warehouse.
A cast of five professional actors – one of whom is a Port Talbot steelworker – will include Sam Coombes, Ioan Hefin, Jason May, Simon Nehan and Siôn Tudor Owen. Performing alongside the five professionals will be four teenagers from Port Talbot Callum Bailey, Isabelle Coombs, Dylan John, Joseph Reynolds – as well as a community cast.
For tickets visit www.nationaltheatrewales.org/were-still-here or ring 029 2037 1689.
Cardiff Book Festival
Where: Venues around Cardiff. When: September 22-24. Big names and local talent from the worlds of fiction, non-fiction, prose and poetry will descend upon the Welsh capital to bring books alive across two stages at the Angel Hotel, Cardiff Central Library and official bookseller Waterstones.
Elvis Festival
Where: Porthcawl. When: September 22-24. Elvis lives, thanks to the thousands of fans and the tribute artists who attend this annual gathering of blue suede shoes, Vegas jumpsuits and whopping sideburns.
Silent disco at the museum
Where: National Museum Wales. When: September 30. Organised by the Swn Festival team, HUSH will be held from 8pm until midnight and it will feature music from a host of Cardiff DJs.
For over 18s only, tickets will cost £10 in advance and go on sale next week.
Visit www.swnfest.com
Swansea International Festival
When: September 29 - October 15. Where: Various venues throughout Swansea. There will be two weeks of live events in the city, kicking off with the fringe festival and followed by music, drama and lectures, including one with Lord Heseltine.
Cardiff Half Marathon
Where: Cardiff city centre. When: October 1. If you haven’t entered it’s a bit too late now but why not go and cheer on all those running the picturesque route around the Welsh capital?
Competitors race right through Cardiff city centre past some iconic locations, with beautiful scenery and historic buildings, starting at Cardiff Castle and passing the Principality Stadium and Penarth Marina before crossing the Cardiff Barrage and racing through Cardiff Bay before finishing close to Cardiff City Hall.
Newport Food Festival
Where: Newport city centre. When: October 7. There will be more than 70 stalls and chef demos when the popular food festival returns for a seventh year.
This year, with its second Newport premises now open in Rogerstone, Tiny Rebel will also be hosting some of the key events including the Festival Supper, which was held at The Ridgeway Bar and Kitchen last year .
Brewery Bar executive chef Rickie Ash will also be cooking up some-
thing tasty in a chef demonstration during the festival.
Gower Cider Festival
Where: Gower Heritage Centre, Swansea.
When: October 7&8. As well as a huge choice of cider and perry to try, there will also be advice on how to make apple juice or cider and there will be a traditional 1890s travelling cider press on site with apple press demonstrations taking place.
Jurassic Park in a Welsh museum
Where: National Museum Cardiff. When: October 13&14. The Steven Spielberg film Jurassic Park will be shown in an awesome pop-up cinema, so you can watch the 1993 classic after exploring the Dinosaur Babies Exhibition.
Not only will you be able to watch the film, which stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, but you can explore the exhibition, play nostalgic games and have raptorlicious cinema snacks.
Festival of the Dead
Where: Y Plas, Cardiff University. When : October 20&21. The festival, which is for anyone 18 and over, will include carnival-style pageantry, giant skull processions, acrobats and dancers as well as decorative art and costumes.
There’ll be elements of theatre, circus, carnival and, of course, partying – with DJs and live acts who’ll be supplying a mix of house, bass and garage but all with a Latin twist.
Swn Festival
Where: Venues throughout Cardiff (and Swansea too).
When: October 21&22. This music festival takes over just about every available venue in Cardiff to showcase raw music talent in intimate spaces. It’s loosely based on SXSW in Texas, and designed to unearth the next generation of performers.
Visit www.swnfest.com
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical
Where: Wales Millennium Centre. When: October 30 - November 4. The Olivier award-winning West End show is coming to Wales as part of its first ever UK tour. Beautiful tells the inspiring true story of Carole King’s remarkable rise to stardom and features many of her classics which include You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, Take Good Care of My Baby, You’ve Got a Friend, So Far Away, It Might As Well Rain Until September, Up on the Roof, and Locomotion.
Box office: 029 2063 6464.
Made By Hand
Where: Cardiff City Hall.
When: November 3-5. At this contemporary craft fair you can meet and buy directly from 135 of the finest makers.
There are adult and children’s workshops, demonstrations and masterclasses.
Tiger Bay
Where: Wales Millennium Centre. When: November 15-25. With an adventurous spirit, romance and a set of bold characters, this original story – a world premiere – embraces the notion of harmony within diverse communities.
A Wales Millennium Centre production in association with Cape Town Opera, this new show takes us back to the dawn of the 20th century at the height of south Wales’ coal trade with characters drawn from the melting pot of Cardiff ’s famous docklands. Box office: 029 2063 6464.
Real Ale Wobble
Where: Llanwrtyd Wells. When: November 16-17. Marking the start of the Mid Wales Beer Festival, this is an event for those who don’t take their cycling too seriously.
Enjoy cycling through the Cambrian Mountains and quaffing local ale from the Heart of Wales Brewery in Llanwrtyd Wells.
Visit www.green-events.co.uk for more information.