Explore family-friendly events this June in Wales featuring music, workshops, and cultural celebrations. Join in with a pan-African festival, Welsh language festivities, print-focused exhibitions, poetry workshops, street food delights, pride celebrations, soapbox races, and more.

DATHLIAD CYMRU-AFFRICA FESTIVAL

This pan-African event, whose title is Welsh for ‘celebration of Wales-Africa’, showcases music, dance, Afro-Welsh performances, workshops, film screenings, art and photography exhibitions with guest bands from Mali, Sudan and the Democratic Republic Of Congo, alongside African artists based in Wales and across the UK.

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sat 10 + Sun 11 June.

Tickets: from £30. Info: here 

GŴYL TAWE

Swansea’s Welsh language festival Gŵyl Tawe, curated by Menter Iaith Abertawe, sees Carmarthen’s Adwaith in the headline spot. In a new location this year, there’s live music – by artists including Los Blancos, Sage Todz, Ani Glass, and MR – and family-friendly activities for everyone and anyone in Wales.

National Waterfront Museum, Swansea, Sat 10 June.

Tickets: FREE. Info: here

PRINTED FESTIVAL

Makers new and seasoned, Printed from Printhaus is the first-ever print-focused event in South Wales. This is a “makers trail” of print artists’ stalls where you can take part in have-a-go print activities, attend live printmaking demos, and hear from special guests. The festival also features a specially curated exhibition, showcasing work from local print workshops.

Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Sat 10 + Sun 11 June.

Admission: FREE. Info: here

WELSHPOOL POETRY FESTIVAL

With guest poets, online and in-person workshops, open mic sessions, and a Poetry Showcase featuring five headliners, the Welshpool Poetry Festival – now in its eighth year – offers bespoke feedback on your work, the chance to enter the Open Poetry Competition judged by Di Slaney and time to mix with likeminded writers.

Church Street, Welshpool, Sat 10 June.

Tickets: £8/free to watch via Zoom. Info: here

PEMBROKESHIRE STREET FOOD FESTIVAL

Seafood, vegan and vegetarian choices, cold drinks and meaty burgers, there’s something for everyone on the sandy beaches of Pembrokeshire thanks to a number of food trucks.

South Beach, Tenby, Fri 16-Sun 18 June.

Tickets: FREE. Info: here

HAY PRIDE

Celebrate the natural world in Hay-On-Wye: with the theme ‘Nature is Queer’, they’re celebrating diversity, with events and spaces for a range of ages created for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.

Hay Castle / The Globe At Hay, Sat 17 June.

Admission: FREE. Info: here

PRIDE CYMRU

What started as a one-day event in 1999 is now Wales’ largest pride event and grassroots LGBTQ+ charity. This year, Pride Cymru’s Big Weekend features a mile-long parade, market stalls and a lineup of entertainers over three stages – including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, July Jones, The Feeling and Drag Race’s Ginny Lemon and Black Peppa.

Cardiff Castle, Sat 17 + Sun 18 June.

Tickets: £16.80 per day. Info: here

SWANSEA KRAZY RACES

Competing for the best-dressed, designed and fastest soapbox karts, get ready for the ultimate Swansea soapbox downhill racing event! Swansea Krazy Races features the most outrageous and wacky vehicles imaginable, show up to see them tackle a challenging course with obstacles, water and more surprises to take the crown.

Castle Square, Swansea, Sun 18 June.

Admission: FREE. Info: here

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

A musical comedy from the writers of Jersey Boys, this Broadway smash takes on and reinvents everyone’s favourite ghoulish family, the Addams. It’s also the opening event of this year’s Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival, which is produced by Everyman as ever and runs until the end of July.

Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Thu 22 June-Sat 1 July.

Tickets: £20. Info: here

THE NOISE NEXT DOOR: THE MYSTERIOUS MANSION OF MYSTERY

Thirteen-time sell-out veterans of The Edinburgh Fringe The Noise Next Door perform this spooky, stupid and downright hilarious, family-friendly comedy show in Wales this June.

Miners Institute, Blackwood, Sat 24 June.

Tickets: £15. Info: here

ANIMANGAPOP

Showcasing the best of Japanese popular culture, arts and lifestyle with a focus on premium anime and manga offerings in the south-west, this two-day convention offers gaming competitions, talks and panels, photoshoots, cosplay, shopping, special guests, performances and an afterparty to keep the energy high.

Future Inn, Cardiff, Sat 1 + Sun 2 July.

Tickets: £25. Info: here

words EMMA WAY