Find out what’s on in South Wales this week
If the August summer sun is a bit too hot to handle then you have the chance to cool down with 500ft long Slip N Slide (Aberdare Park, Fri 14 Aug + Singleton Park, Swansea, Sat 15-Sun 16 Aug. Tickets: £6 per ride / £20 all day) this week. The slide, which is longer than a football pitch, will make its first appearance at Aberdare Park and then slip into Singleton Park in Swansea. As well as the epic water slide, there will be food stalls, rides and other types of entertainment happening throughout the day.
Cardiff’s annual Pride event, Pride Cymru + Welsh Pride Parade (Cooper’s Field / Parade starts at Churchill Way, Cardiff, Sat 15 Aug. Tickets: £8 / £12 multi entry wristband / £5 children under 13 / £19 family ticket / Parade: free to spectators or £1pp donation to participate), returns to Coopers Field to champion and celebrate LGBT+ rights and culture. Expect a big, loud and colourful parade followed by live music, street food and funfair rides.
In the run up to Pride Cymru the Tunnel Club (Metros, Cardiff, Thurs 13 Aug. Tickets: £5) will be returning to Cardiff. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first LGBT march in Cardiff, this pioneering 1980s gay club will be taking over Metros for one night only. Hosted by Tunnel Girl, Marcia, and featuring two original Tunnel DJs, Andre and Dave, the night will include the 1985-vintage tracks featured only in gay bars at the time.
There will also be some outdoor theatre in the form of the loveable sit com Allo Allo (Manorbier Castle, Tenby, Mon 10-Fri 14 Aug. Tickets: £8-£10 / £6-£8 conc). Red Herring Theatre take on the story of Rene, the man running a cafe in occupied France during the Second World War. The premise might not sound hilarious but throw in a tone-deaf wife, a scary Gestapo officer and a British spy with a bad French accent and you’ll soon be in stitches.
If you want somewhere to chill out, enjoy picturesque landscapes and help take care of the earth then The Green Gathering (Piercefield Park, Chepstow, Thurs 13-16 Aug. Tickets: £100 / £54 under 15s / children under 10 go free but need a ticket) ticks all those boxes. This is one festival committed to sustaining communities in a creative and low impact ways, meaning that (among the live artists and DJs) the line-up includes speeches from activist, a craft area and a radical cinema.
The Green Gathering isn’t the only scenic festival taking place this week, as Fforest Farm and Caught By The River come together to host the Caught By The River Teifi Festival (Fforest Farm, Cilgerran, Cardigan, Mon 10-Mon 17 Aug. Tickets: £80 full week / £45 midweek / £30 Fri + Sat / £15 Fri only / £20 Sat only / Child and family tickets also available). There will be live music (with the likes of Stealing Sheep performing), readings hosted by Wales Arts Review and tasty local food on offer.
Festivals aren’t just restricted to the earth, however, as Solasphere (Penmaenau Farm, Builth Wells, Fri 14-Sun 16 Aug. Tickets: £15 Fri / £25 Sat / £25 Sun / £45 weekend) brings together live music and astro inspired talks and workshops.
Pontardawe will also be getting into the festival spirit with the Gwyl Pontardawe Festival (Pontardawe Arts Centre + Pontardawe RFC, Neath Port Talbot, Fri 14-Sun 16 Aug. Tickets: individual events priced separately). Dance music, live performances (including Welsh folk from Calan, swing from Hot Shoes and salsa music from Combo Yanze) and circus workshops are all on the schedule.
If you didn’t manage to get your hands on tickets for this year’s Green Man Festival then you can still get a taste of it in Cardiff as American musician and composer Peter Broderick (Dempseys, Cardiff, Sat 15 Aug. Tickets: £12) will be popping in to perform at Four Bars at Dempseys before heading to the festival in the Monmouthshire mountains. You’ll get a mixed bag of musical treats at his show as Broderick’s back catalogue includes everything from low-key, experimental songs to classic pop tunes.
Over in the art world it will be your last chance to catch dystopian law enforcement officer, Judge Dredd, as the centrepiece of Judgement In Cardiff (Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, Sun 2 Aug-Sun 16 Aug. Admissions: free) this week. The exhibition includes original artistry of Judge Dredd and pieces from local artists Grant Richards, Dylan Teague and David Roach.
photo (Green Gathering) KEEF GIBSON