Gŵyl Afon Ogwen River Festival News Archive
GWYL AFON OGWEN AT THE OGWEN VALLEY SHOW
We had a good day at Dyffryn Ogwen Show with our small display of
local carved slates, photographs from last year’s Festival and Martin
Morley’s painting ‘Bethesda Newsagent’ that we are raffling this year to
raise funds. We talked with lots of people and gave out this year’s
purple flier as a reminder of the dates.
The carved slates
attracted a lot of interest from people who have them in their houses or
gardens. Many local slates were recorded by the Archaeological Society
of Llanllechid and Llandegai in the late 1970s and photos and details of
them are now available at www.friendsofgwyneddmuseum.co.uk.
If you have slates that you do not see on the website, do contact us;
we are keen to feature carved slates in this year’s Gwyl and are
considering a display and possibly a trail to see some in situ.
GWYL AFON OGWEN 2010 REPORT
Well, what can we say? Wow! What a fantastic time we have had.
With the luck of the gods we had the first 2 days clear of rain for weeks.
Neil Williams kicked off proceedings for us early Friday evening, wishing us well and ‘cutting the ribbon.'
A hearty crew of artists had mounted art exhibitions in 3 venues and by the end of the weekend around 600 visitors had viewed the work. Another 30 saw the Cefnfaes Art Group show in the Canolfan on Saturday.
Performers and audience alike found Friday evening's entertainment from Lorna Todd and friends refreshingly informal and further such evenings are hoped for in the future.
Jerusalem Chapel Gardens proved an ideal venue and an appreciative if chilly crowd gathered for Saturday's performances. Cor y Penrhyn sang from the Chapel steps and filled the gardens with fantastic sound, followed by Boncathod and Bangor Community choir with more intimate selections and some audience participation. The colourful Morris with their mascot dog stamped and banged their sticks to accordion sounds. Audience and choir members alike repaired to nearby cafes for warmth and refreshment - Fitzpatricks and Café Seren reported record customers, and were run off their feet!
133 people went on the walks and everyone felt they had learned a huge amount about ‘their' patch. The family walks nearest the High Street had the most numbers, being attended by many lively children keen to see bats (we saw 3!) and other wildlife in the woods. We obviously need more of this kind of activity in Bethesda.
The Discover Gwynedd's ‘Cwm Idwal' film, Paul Higginson film, ‘Rafon' images and Gwilym Morus performance created a haunting interlude in the Neuadd.
The Old Bowling Green was alive with the shrieks of excited, industrious youngsters as they and their parents took over this neglected community space to create artwork underfoot, hanging in trees, perched on fences, hiding in tree stumps -everywhere! It was great, and some of it can still be seen.
Saturday night at Y Llangollen was stomping! Dave Hopewell's line up brought in the crowds and kept them there: the sound of old friends catching up with each other nearly drowned out the musicians, but not quite! A great time was had by all and Gwyn nearly ran out of beer. Similarly all tables were filled for Sunday lunches accompanied by Jane Williams singing and the instrumental guitar duo.
Poetry from Rhys Trimble and Richard Douglas Pennant, and children's storytelling were all well attended in their different venues, showing an enthusiasm for hearing the spoken word in an informal setting.
Entries into the baking contest impressed Bethesda Bakers, who will be keen to nurture even more talent for next year. There were prizewinners in every class.
And finally - so many people were convinced that the Jeremy Yates painting that was raffled should be theirs, but the only winner was Adrian Griffin from Tregarth! He was luckily in the Douglas when the raffle was drawn and photographed receiving his prize.
So, a huge thanks to everyone who helped the weekend activities to happen. There have been so many positive comments from people who have so much enjoyed both familiar and new activities and also the sense of the High Street becoming a lively place full of friends and social opportunity once again. These 2 days have exceeded our expectations and clearly demonstrated what a good place Bethesda is to be!
We have been told in no uncertain terms that this must happen again, so WATCH THIS SPACE for news of Gwyl Afon Ogwen 2011.
