Caerleon Arts Festival Gwyl Celf Caerllion | |
---|---|
Genre | Arts, music, and literature |
Frequency | Annually |
Location(s) | Caerleon |
Country | Wales |
Founded | 2003 (19 years ago) |
Founder | Dr Russell Rhys |
Website | www |
General information | |
---|---|
Country | Wales |
Coordinates | 51°36′34″N2°57′06″W / 51.609445°N 2.951748°W |
The Caerleon Arts Festival (Welsh : Gwyl Celf Caerllion) is a yearly arts, literature and entertainment event in the town of Caerleon, near Newport, Wales. It is held in July, setting up over a week period, with a main weekend hosting the headline events. The 2019 festival concluded on 13 and 14 July.
The festival was founded in 2003 by Dr Russell Rhys, a local GP. [1] Born in Llanelli, he was part of the Welsh émigrés in London and was a friend of Dylan Thomas. He later joined Gwent County Council and befriended the late Newport West MP Paul Flynn.
Dr Rhys resided at the Mynde, and later went on to acquire the site for the now-Ffwrrm opposite his home. The Ffwrrm today is a garden square with a restaurant, small businesses and artists. The courtyard garden is decorated in statuary and sculptures bought and commissioned by Dr Rhys from 1990 onwards in order to create a centre for the arts in Caerleon. The collection he curated went on to become the inspiration for the Arts Festival.
Dr Rhys acquired old stables and buildings on the site of the present Ffwrwm arts centre. The site remains a cultural centre today, set in 18th century gardens. The site includes a Celtic Arts & Crafts store, sculpture garden, independent restaurant, and a number of small businesses. [2]
In 2003 he started the Caerleon Festival, inspired by Hay-on-Wye, and he was responsible for commissioning the sculptural works. Wood workers were invited from as far as China, expenses paid, but required to preserve their work in the village. [1] Today Caerleon and the nearby area are surrounded by mythical-styled wood sculptures, depicting such ideas as Arthurian knights of the Round Table or Welsh Mabinogion. [3] Today there are over 100 works, many by Welsh artist Ed Harrison. [1]
The present day festival continues the tradition of arts, crafts, and sculpture set by Dr Rhys, but now expands to include music, literature, dance and entertainment. It regularly invites musicians from other countries to perform.
Recent developments with the festival have seen expansion with music events staged at venues including Caerleon Town Hall and St Cadocs Church. The open-air Roman amphitheatre hosts an annual Shakespeare play.
The 'Big Free Weekend' alongside the River Usk is two full days of free live music and dance on three stages at the Hanbury Quay, the 17th century Bell Inn marquee and the Festival Field marquee. A diverse range of performers are featured including folk, idie, rock, choirs, celtic and international dance. [4]
The Literature on the Lawn festival is the 'fringe' literary festival, held in the garden of the Priory Hotel. It offers literary discussions, readings, and entertainment, hosted around 5-8 July each year prior to the arts festival. [5]
The event is supported by the local Caerleon Festival charity and its members, as well as a wide range of local businesses, including Literature Wales, ABP, Cadw, Sainsbury's, The Celtic Manor Resort, Brains Brewery, and Welsh Government.
Abergavenny is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. Abergavenny is promoted as a Gateway to Wales; it is approximately 6 miles (10 km) from the border with England and is located where the A40 trunk road and the A465 Heads of the Valleys road meet.
Caerleon is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Newport city centre, and 5.5 miles (9 km) southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hillfort. Close to the remains of Isca Augusta are the National Roman Legion Museum and the Roman Baths Museum. The town also has strong historical and literary associations: Geoffrey of Monmouth elevated the significance of Caerleon as a major centre of British history in his Historia Regum Britanniae, and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote Idylls of the King (1859–1885) while staying in Caerleon.
Cwmbran is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales.
Newport is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, 12 miles northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest authority with city status in Wales, and seventh most populous overall. Newport became a unitary authority in 1996 and forms part of the Cardiff-Newport metropolitan area. Newport was the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Great Britain, the Newport Rising of 1839.
The University of Wales, Newport, was a university based in Newport, South Wales, before the merger that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university had two campuses in Newport, Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city, which was subsequently closed during July 2016, and a £35 million campus on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre which opened in 2011. In 2012 the university was ranked 111th out of 120 UK universities in the Guardian League Table for university rankings, 105th out of 116 in The Complete University Guide and 104th out of 116 UK universities in the Times Good University Guide.
Caerleon Comprehensive School is an 11–18 mixed, English-medium community Secondary School and Sixth Form in Caerleon, Newport, Wales.
The Hawth Theatre is an arts and entertainment complex located in 38 acres (150,000 m2) of woodland about 0.5 mi (800 m) from the town centre of the English town of Crawley. It is wholly owned by Crawley Borough Council and is currently operated by Parkwood Theatres.
The Festival interceltique de Lorient (French), Emvod Ar Gelted An Oriant (Breton) or Inter-Celtic Festival of Lorient in English, is an annual Celtic festival, located in the city of Lorient, Brittany, France. It was founded in 1971 by Polig.
Blaengarw is the uppermost village in the river valley of the River Garw, in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales.
The Riverfront is the principal and newest theatre and arts centre in the City of Newport. It is located on the west bank of the River Usk on the Bristol Packet Wharf in the city centre. Designed by architectural firm Austin-Smith:Lord, the centre was opened on 23 October 2004.
Newport Museum and Art Gallery is a museum, library and art gallery in the city of Newport, South Wales. It is located in Newport city centre on John Frost Square and is adjoined to the Kingsway Shopping Centre.
The music of Cardiff has been dominated mainly by rock music since the early 1990s with later trends developing towards more extreme styles of the genre such as heavy metal and metalcore music. It, along with the nearby music scene in Newport, has brought a number of musicians to perform or begin their careers in South Wales.
The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music. The festival site is divided into 10 areas, hosting literature, film, comedy, science, theatre, wellness and family acts. It is also possible to stay for a week at the festival site, known as the Settlement, and explore the surrounding area.
Aberystwyth Arts Centre is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre, concert hall, studio and cinema, as well as four gallery spaces and cafés, bars, and shops.
Caerleon railway station is a former station serving Caerleon on the east side of the city of Newport, UK and a proposed future station as part of the South Wales Metro.
The University of South Wales is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The university is the second largest university in Wales in terms of its student numbers, and offers around 200 undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The university has three main faculties across its campuses in South Wales.
National Cycle Route 88 is a route of the National Cycle Network, running from Newport to its planned finish site at Margam.
The International Convention Centre Wales is a 5,000-capacity venue in the city of Newport, South Wales. The venue has a main auditorium with fixed seating for 1,500 delegates, six rooms of exhibition space, and 43,000 square feet (4,000 m2) of pillar-free space. ICC Wales is located on the Celtic Manor Resort site which hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup and 2014 NATO summit.
The Mynde is a historic site and property located in Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city of Newport. The town is the historic site of the Isca Augusta Roman Fortress.
The Hanbury Arms is a Grade II listed public house on Caerleon High Street, near Newport, Wales. The historical significance of the Hanbury Arms is that it is famous for being visited frequently by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in 1856, where he began writing Idylls of the King from the building, with its riverside views. Along with the famous Medieval tower, the town of Caerleon is mentioned many times in the poem.