To all of you lovely people out there, we’d like to wish you a Very Merry Festive-Mas!
The WAC crew comprises of people with varying beliefs / spiritualities, but we all love us this time of year for the chance it gives to hang out with people we love, eat loads of lush food and have a couple of lie-ins.
This is one of our favourite photos of Cardiff’s Winter Wonderland, by Instagrammer xeno.v (check the feed, beautiful photography!)
Before you rip open those gifts, remember that the amount of wrapping paper we throw away every year at Christmas could stretch around the equator nine times, or up to the moon if every sheet of paper was laid end-to-end (thanks for the tip-off Recycle for Wales). SERIOUS.
So the very least you can do is recycle that bad boy.
With the exception of the shiny metallic and glitter varieties, ALL paper, including wrapping paper, is recyclable. To find out if paper is recyclable try the ‘scrunch test’ shown here. Paper that is recyclable stays in a ball when it is scrunched in the hand.
And if you think that’s bad, somewhere around 13,350 tonnes of glass is thrown out in the UK over Christmas. If this was recycled, it could save around 4,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of taking 1,300 cars off the road for an entire year. Recycling one Prosecco bottle saves enough energy to power a home stereo for 24 HOURS – just think of all that dancing!
TIPS FOR REDUCING WASTE THIS CHRISTMAS!
– Definitely recycle your used wrapping paper – OR, save it for re-use in a multitude of ways! Shred it to use as colourful tissue packing for future gifts, or use it like newspaper to clean windows and mirrors. It also has potential in future crafting projects – origami for kids, or use the blank side for drawing or colouring.
– If your Christmas cards have nice designs on the front, cut them out and use as gift tags for next year.
– Got yourself some festive leftovers? Our very own Lia’s Kitchen has plenty of suggestions for how to use up whatever’s left to reduce waste! Whatever IS leftover and done for, make sure you put those bits in your food caddy.
– If you don’t have a living Christmas tree, there are plenty of ways you can use it before you get rid of it. Pine needles are great for pot pourri, or add them into the compost heap to balance out any alkaline.
– METALS! You can recycle kitchen foil, drinks cans, freezing trays, cigarette and tobacco foil, screw top lids from wine or alcohol bottles, and traditional milk bottle tops. Make sure all that stuff goes in your green bags!
– Christmas decorations! If they’re still in good order, they can be donated to Re-Create, so don’t trash them just because the holiday is done!
The challenge: 32 people to buy Christmas gifts for on a £300 budget! Can it be done? Cardiff Indoor Market enthusiast Jade Tambini tells us that yes, it can!
This blog is all about my experience challenging myself to do a full Christmas shop at Cardiff Market with just £300 to spend.
The first thing that struck me about my decision to do my full Christmas shop at Cardiff Market this year, was the absence of stress and overwhelming panic that usually consumes me in the lead up. I’ve always been one to plan our day out in order to do the full shop in one day (much to my husband Paul’s terror). So the thought of getting it all done in one go at the market felt just wonderful!
I’ve spent a lot more time at the market recently buying lunch, fresh produce and more and have been won over by the variety of stalls there, fallen in love with the atmosphere and I’ve gotten to know loads of the amazing traders during my visits too. If you’ve not been to the market before, it’s hard to put into words how it feels to spend an afternoon browsing, bantering and buying, all I can say to describe it is that it’s a little bit like being transported to another time and place, sheltered from the world outside, like a safe haven almost to give you space to think, be and enjoy shopping.
In preparation for the shopping trip, I pled with my Facebook friends to let me borrow a ‘grannie trolley’ to make the day a more comfortable experience. Since we’ve got 32 loved ones on our huge Italian/ Irish direct family list, I couldn’t think of any other way. Amidst the mocking of my apparently ‘uncool’ idea, I managed to get hold of a shopping bag on wheels ready for a knockout day of shopping!
Without further ado, here’s a breakdown of some of the gifts I picked up during my four-hour shopping session, to get Christmas all wrapped up for under £300. I was joined by my mum and our family friend’s daughter, Heidi 12, who was super cute running around talking to all the traders, we were also later joined by Paul, my hubby!
Mum and Heidi at Lovely Crockery
Note; if you are in my family please stop reading since you will likely find out what we’ve bought you for Christmas! That includes you, Paul!
Bath bombs, soaps and candle sets from Luvely Bubbly
Julie is the loveliest lady you’ll meet, she has so much knowledge on the different products available at the stall and will talk to you about the person you’re buying for, suggesting recommended products to suit their personality and what they like.
For my brothers’ girlfriends I picked out raspberry swirl bath bombs and fruity glitter hand soaps. For my sister-in-law and my dad’s girlfriend the bath bomb, candle and soap boxes were perfect and at just £10 and £12.50 depending on which one you choose, were great value for a lovely gift! The candle and mini soap bag pictured is just £5!
I also picked up some soaps for my mother in law. The stall has so many different types of soap whether it’s funky jelly baby flavour, parma violets, rhubarb and custard (they all literally smell like the sweets!) or natural more earthy organic smells that suited my mother-in-law’s taste really well.
Asian delights from Lovely Crockery
I spent just over £60 in Lovely Crockery but I can’t begin to tell you how incredible Su’s products are and I got so much for my money. First, I bought these adorable bunny feet egg cups for my two nieces, they were only £3 each, can you believe?
This bunny feet egg cup was just £3
I also picked out this gorgeous Japanese rice pattern tea pot for my mum which was only £13 and a pack of traditional teas.
I bought my nana these super cute compact mirrors and lipstick holders, she’s always loved things like this so I thought they were perfect.
I also bought her this lovely ‘cwtch’ mug! Since my family are all up north in Leeds and Pontefract I thought it was a nice choice to remind her of me in Wales.
I also picked out bits and pieces for various little additional gifts for my my sister, mum, mother-in-law and sister-in-law which varied from under £1 to a few quid.
What I love most about JC Morgan’s card stall is the variety. I’ve always loved sending cards that match my family set. It’s hard to find cards like ‘Nana and Grandad’ and ‘to mum and her boyfriend’ and I always enjoyed receiving very specific cards like ‘to my granddaughter and her boyfriend’ before me and Paul got married, it just feels so much more personal. You just can’t get these old classics with the stunning verses inside in many place anymore either, and the prices are incredible here! Lots of people don’t like cards but my mum and nana especially always revel in reading the verses so it’s nice to pick some special ones!
Most of the cards I picked up were less than £1.50, the price they should be. I do love Marks & Spencer cards too, I’ll be honest, but they carry a big price tag for a card and supporting a local independent feels really nice. They are so helpful there, I couldn’t find a card I wanted and the guys there were going through all the drawers and finding me everything I needed. I also picked up wrapping paper, cellotape and gift tags.
Half way through the trip my lovely husband popped in and took trolley responsibility – as you can imagine, he was delighted to be dragged around for the last hour of shopping!
Festive boxes from Cheese Pantry
My favourite thing about the new Cheese Pantry stall that’s opened at the market, aside from Melissa and Jo the lovely gals working there, oh and the daisy bell, is the delicious cheese samples always available to try on the counter! My husband picked out three festive cheese boxes for our aunty and uncle and a couple of his closest cousins.
With delicious cheeses, hot Christmas chutney’s made locally by Penylan Pantry, and some crackers to compliment, we’re sure our relatives will be really pleased with their gifts!
On Melissa’s advice, we popped the cheeses in a tupperware to go in the fridge and have kept the boxes aside ready to prepare with some lovely ribbon we were given to gift wrap them! The gang there are so helpful, really worth a visit either for gifts or for a Christmas day cheese board!
Healing stones from Rocks and Clocks
My dad’s mum Grandma Angela is the sweetest, kindest lady you’ll ever meet. She’s very spiritual and has always prayed every night for everyone in our family, 30 direct cousins strong, as well as lighting candles in church for people when they need extra support. She’s had a difficult year with her mobility and some setbacks in her health and while she’s back on top form I wanted to pick out some healing crystals for her from Rocks and Clocks.
I also picked up an incense set and a stress busting crystal for my friend who has a very busy job! The lady who works there consults on the different healing crystals and it’s really interesting to look at them and see which one’s you’re drawn to. She even cleanses them of other energy so they are brand new for you, in a special bowl before you take them away.
Lucky for us we have Christmas dinner all cooked and prepared for us, since my mother-in-law is the best you can get! If I wasn’t I’d have certainly been back this week to the butchers, fruit and veg stalls and fishmongers for my meats, vegetables and smoked salmon! Bakestones are selling gorgeous freshly baked Christmas cakes too which smell make the market smell like Christmas day even now!
All in all, a fantastic and stress free experience. My trolley was packed full when I got home ready to wrap and pop under the tree! I was on budget too with change for a Welsh Cake from Bakestones!
As I left, I had been so in my own world that I hadn’t realised it had been pouring it down ALL day, so I even picked up a brolly for my walk back to the train!
It’s party time! But do you ever wonder how much power is generated by recycling? Angela from Recycle for Wales is here to tell us how to use your waste for good this season!
The #RecycledBeats Christmas campaign claims that recycling just one bottle of prosecco could save enough energy to play the entire Super Furry Animal’s Radiator and Fuzzy Logic albums on a home stereo 13 times each and power a spinning disco ball for five and a half days.
Prosecco power doesn’t stop there either. Playing a gig at the Tramshed on 20th December, Welsh singer and green queen, Charlotte Church said:
“Every little effort we make to recycle more can enable us to do more of the things we love without harming the world around us. If I recycled one prosecco bottle, I could save enough energy to power both the guitar and bass in my Late Night Pop Dungeon show for the full hour. That’s amazing!”
Everyday non-party items also provide a range of opportunities for recycling – from all types of drinks bottles to toilet roll tubes and wrapping paper. Recycling one aluminium deodorant can saves enough energy to power a home stereo for 32 hours – that’s 480 plays of Mariah Carey’s All I want for Christmas is you.
Whether going out or staying in throughout party season – your energy saving recycling can take place before, during and after the party and throughout the year at home.
Getting ready- Good tunes are an essential part of ANY pre-party preparations. Whilst you’re singing into the shower head at home, remember that one hairspray canister could save enough energy to play three of your favourite albums on your home stereo, back to back.
The party- Who needs a band? Recycling just one wine bottle saves enough energy to power a home stereo for 24 hours. You could also provide the disco magic by recycling just one tube of toilet roll, which saves enough energy to keep the disco ball spinning for two whole hours.
The clean up- The party is over and everyone is asleep, and yet the empty cleaning products still have a lot of energy. That one bleach bottle used saves enough energy to power a guitar amp for two gigs, the deodorant bottle- nine gigs! That’s enough for all of next year’s parties too!
The following day- Baby its cold outside! If you’re staying at home on the sofa with your duvet, recycling four beer bottles could save you enough energy to power your favourite Christmas classics, including Home Alone and Love Actually.
Angela Spiteri, campaign manager for Recycle for Wales said:
“Partygoers often forget you need energy for more than just dancing; the power for the party can come from simply taking the time to recycle your drinks bottles. It can take up to 95% less energy to make products from some recycled materials compared to creating materials from scratch.
#RecycledBeats highlights how this translates into actual energy to power all things musical – from bands and DJs playing across Cardiff this festive season.”
We accidentally went to four Christmas craft fairs yesterday, so here are some lovely, local independent artists and businesses where you can find super special Christmas pressies this year. We’ll keep adding to this post as we find new stuff! Leave us a comment if you have an idea!
Claire Hill jewellery – a favourite of ours. Claire makes beautiful, lightweight jewellery in her studio in Canton and sells it for incredibly reasonable prices!
The Power of Greyskull – another one of our faves. Quality Cardiff-made leggings that DON’T FALL DOWN, even during aerial circus acts (certified by us).
Emily England designs – papercut prints, cute cards and beautiful books- the wonderful Emily has got you covered.
Penylan Pantry’s Christmas hampers – whether your weakness is cheese, chocolate, coffee or quite simply, damn good food, the Pantry girls have it covered in the different ranges available.
Fancy visiting Cardiff’s first ever ethical night market?
Picture the scene – in the build-up to the festive season the magic and excitement of Christmas quickly disappearing as you navigate through crowded department stores with terrible Christmas music played over tinny shop speakers and the worry that the products you’re lovingly picking out have been made in less-than-ethical conditions.
What Christmas shopping really needs is a stress-free cosy atmosphere, ethical local brands (and maybe a glass or two of mulled wine).
This December will see Cardiff’s first ever Ethical Cardiff Night Market, and it’s going to be a Christmas special!
This alternative market – organised by environmentally friendly letting agent Green Valley Moves – will be popping up in Cardiff Speaker Hire on Dumballs Road on Saturday 10th December. It will include stalls filled with eco-friendly products, delicious veggie and vegan food and lovingly handmade crafts.
All of the vendors have a passion for sustainability and are providing products that are good for people and the planet. The stallholders include independent coffee and vinyl venture Outpost, natural male grooming product makers Old Faithful and vegan-friendly coffee and juice experts The Moos.
There is more than just stalls, however, as the night will also include a bar, live music (championing local female musicians) and a pottery workshop by Cardiff Pottery Workshops.
The event was created by Green Valley Moves founder, Cat Woods, to provide people with a more relaxed shopping experience.
“I’m prone to anxiety” Cat explains, “and Christmas shopping, with all the crowds, is something that puts a strain on me. So when I decided to organise the Ethical Cardiff Night Market I had mental health in the front of my mind.”
Cat Woods of Green Valley Moves
Cat reached out to other people who find Christmas shopping nerve-wracking to see what she could do to help. The whole event has been designed with these suggestions, meaning the market will have calming acoustic music and staggered entry so that it doesn’t get overcrowded.
There will still be a strong sense of festive magic, however, as Cat continues: “We have lots of things planned – including a snow machine!”.
Green Valley Moves is an ethical Landlord/Letting Agent, based in Cardiff, with a passion for sustainability and the environment. They provide sustainable lettings services for landlords and help tenants save money by giving them the knowledge and inspiration to live healthier, greener lives.
Founded by Cat Woods, Green Valley Move’s profits create and support local community eco projects.
The Ethical Cardiff Night Market was created to champion ethical and eco-friendly producers in Cardiff and South Wales, as well as provide a low-stress shopping alternative for those who find Christmas shopping anxiety inducing.
For those of you wanting to support local businesses during the Chrimbo period, we sent Benjamin Newman out into the cold to research all the best Christmas Fairs! Local shopping, local makers, mulled wines … celebrate the festive season!
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It’s a bit cold, isn’t it? The nights are drawing in, school children are waddling around in about 72 layers of clothing, the air is colder than Theresa May’s soul, and Christmas decorations have gone up far too early – yep, it’s Winter, and that means one thing: IT’S CHRISTMAAAAAAAAAS.
Ah…nothing like Christmas to distract you for long enough to (almost) nullify the sense of impending existential doom, is there?
Here’s a few markets and fun things you can get on with in Cardiff this festive season (if you haven’t frozen to death on your commute to work yet, that is). There’s lots on offer again in this wonderful city from vegan markets to Etsy-inspired stalls, so get stuck in!
Thursday 10 November – 23 December: Cardiff Christmas Market
The Cardiff Christmas Market has returned to brighten up Woking Street for a month and a half again (and increase the number of people walking down the street tenfold, sadly). However, it is still as varied and exciting as ever. The Market will ultimately become the main destination for original gifts in the city centre (do check out other areas of Cardiff for your shopping, mind). There’s a diverse range of high quality products with over 180 individual businesses taking part this year such as pewter work, heritage images of Wales and Welsh slate products, metalwork, photography, hand built and thrown pottery, silver and precious stone jewellery, original textiles, traditional wooden items and toys, original art works and cards for all occasions, handmade candles, specialist knotting, up-cycled china wear and re-cycled textiles, glasswork, and needlework together with many original decorative items for the house and garden. It’s got a lovely Crimbo vibe to it, too.
Friday 25 November, 5:30-9PM: Penarth’s Handmade Market Christmas Special
Penarth’s Handmade Market returns on Friday 25 November 2016 for a special Christmas themed shopping evening featuring 40 of Wales’ most exciting makers and food producers.
Grab your friends after work and join us for a shop and a drink. We will have loads of fantastic gift ideas, decorations, cards and food for the coming festive season.
Avoid Black Friday madness and support local business. You know it makes sense!
Winner of ‘Best Vintage Fair’ at the last 3 national awards, Lou Lou’s returns to Cardiff’s City Hall with a fab vintage fair.
Find 40 stalls of vintage fashion, homeware and collectables nestled in this stunning location. Relax in a gorgeous tea room, watch a live performance and even get pampered in the vintage beauty salon!
TEA PARTY
The lovely ladies from LILS PARLOUR will be putting on a great spread of cakes and bakes fresh from their kitsch kitchen. Teas and cakes are served up on vintage china in the cute pop up tearoom. Don’t miss the delicious lemon drizzle!
HAIR AND BEAUTY SALON
For the perfect victory rolls, glamorous pin curls or sky-scraping beehives, make an appointment in our hair and beauty salon provided by POP UP PARLOUR. Appointments can be made in advance via email: popupparlour@hotmail.com
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
The lovely ladies from GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES will be entertaining us with their close harmony singing!
Get into the festive spirit with a Christmas food and drink festival on the first weekend of December. Chapter’s beer garden will be enveloped in a cosy marquee, serving festive beers, German sausages and other delicious nibbles. The perfect place to catch up with friends, exchange gifts and toast the season before December gets too busy!
Ewch i hwyl yr ŵyl gyda’n gŵyl o fwyd a diod Nadoligaidd ar benwythnos cyntaf mis Rhagfyr. Bydd ein gardd gwrw yn cael ei gorchuddio â phabell fawr glyd, a bydd yn gweini cwrw Nadoligaidd, selsig Almaenaidd a danteithion blasus eraill. Y lle perffaith i weld ffrindiau, i gyfnewid anrhegion ac i yfed llwnc destun tymhorol cyn i fis Rhagfyr fynd yn rhy brysur o’r hanner!
Seasons hosting their first Christmas market that will give customers a chance to shop from different stalls on the night from different businesses.
There will be a charity raffle, along with mulled wine, mulled cider, mince pies, singing & much more (it seems like it’s going to get pretty lit, to be honest).
Tickets are ONLY £5 per adult & £2 per child with a Christmas drink and snack included in the ticket price! Please do attend as proceeds from the event will be going to Welsh Women’s Aid.
Saturday 3 December, 4PM-6:30PM: Rhiwbina Christmas Festival 2016
RVE are rolling up their sleeves and have begun planning Festival 2016. Expect various stalls, food, fun and (hopefully) not rain (it’s become a bit of a tradition at the festival, it seems).
ANYONE WANTING TO APPLY TO HAVE A STALL at the Christmas festival should email eleanor.sanders@cardiff.gov.uk, although it may be a little late now.
Sunday 4 December, 11AM-5PM: Ab Fab Winter Wonderland Vegan Christmas Festival
A vegan food festival containing lots of excellent stalls including the renowned ‘Cheese and Chocolate’ and ‘Cardiff Vegan Pizza Co’. Make this Christmas special for the animals & for ourselves – Come down to Depot in Cardiff for a day filled with wonderful cruelty-free food, health & beauty products, gifts and animal rescue charities!
£1 admission for adults and FREE for children.
Cannot recommend this festival and the lovely organiser Sue Thomas enough – please be sure to check this place out.
Sunday 4 December, 11AM-7PM: Cardiff and Valleys Etsy Made Local 2016
If you’ve ever gone on Etsy, you know it’s a labyrinth of amazing clothes, crafts and jewellery. However, the Etsy Made Local market is bringing all these fun things directly to you via a market stall! A fun-filled day of shopping, workshops and performances. For one day only Cardiff and Valleys Etsy Sellers are taking over Tramshed, lots of wonderful local sellers will be there, as well as a host of workshops and performances throughout the day. Watch this space and check out our website for more details www.cavetsy.co.uk
An exclusive workshop at the CAVETSY Christmas extravaganza at the Tramshed. Join Green City to kick start a crafty Christmas! They’ll show you how to create beautiful, festive gifts and decorations from things that you might usually throw away. From upcycled Christmas tree decorations & garlands to wrapping paper, jewellery and lots more, you’ll take home plenty of crafty ideas & makes.
All materials provided, but you may need to bring along a few bits from home if you have them.
This workshop will take place in the upstairs bar at the Tramshed during the Cardiff and Valleys Etsy Made Local 2016. Why not make a day of it and enjoy browsing 50 stalls of local makers as well as live music, performances and workshops?
This workshop is suitable for ages 12+. Children aged 16 or under must be accompanied by an adult.
A cosy, alternative Cardiff Christmas shopping/eating/drinking experience with a chilled atmosphere and a diverse range of ethical local brands. There will be nature based products, veggie food, vegan food and treats, Christmas gifts that are good for the planet, handmade crafts, mulled wines, vegan friendly skincare for men and women, yoga pop up, vegan shop, live background music, a bar and more.
Saturday 10 December – Sunday 11 December – Snapped Up Market – A Dickensian Christmas
The Print Haus is one of our all time favourite places, so we can’t wait for their Christmas market! Snapped Up Market returns this December bigger and better than ever!! This time round they’ll be open for not one but TWO DAYS!!! That’s right folks, all the fun and merriment but spread over an entire weekend!
They’ll have all your favourites that you can expect from their markets, with ‘Print your own’ workshops/ open studios/ stalls from some rather fabulous artists, makers and craft people and of course resident pizza kings Dusty Knuckle will take care of your taste bud needs.
The best place to grab some amazing unique Christmas gifts and enjoy in some festive fun!
Chapter and Green City are doing it again and showcasing the best local Welsh produce!
Stock up on Christmas treats, stocking fillers, gorgeous chocs, tasty cheese, delicious meats and something special from the Caffi Bar.
For one day only!
Discover our Green Grotto, hosted by Green City. Join us for:
– Christmas craft workshops
– upcycled Christmas crafts
– and lots of family friendly fun!
… aaaaaaand that’s a wrap. Be sure to check out as many of these as you can, it’s always a great help to the city to help local businesses and – for all of our sakes – avoid the madness that is Black Friday and get to supporting your city’s local businesses!
Oh, and Merry Christmas. 2016 has been a weird one, right?
Get your Christmas cabaret on! A collective of international circus and cabaret artists famous for their thrilling, immersive performances is coming to the DEPOT warehouse at the end of this month.
On the 29 / 30 November and 1 December, guests are invited to dress in their craziest Christmas clobber and head to the DEPOT for an evening of wintery cabaret, circus tricks and ‘dodgy Santa comedy’ – courtesy of Mary Bijou Cabaret and Social Club’s ‘Fairy Tale Christmas’!
Having previously performed sell out shows at the Wales Millennium Centre, Edinburgh festival and around the country, The Mary Bijou Cabaret & Social Club are critically acclaimed for their immersive and intimate performances which are driven by playfulness and good fun.
Tickets for the Mary Bijou Fairy Tale Christmas are priced at £15 and available from depot.eventcube.io/events. Fancy dress is warmly encouraged!
For more info see DEPOT’s social media pages, or search @themarybijou
We don’t usually promote businesses on We Are Cardiff. But Mark (aka @oddjobscardiff) is our exception.
Mark pitches himself as an ‘honest man for hire’, and both of us at We Are Cardiff have been super impressed with him and his work. In a Facebook post, he describes his frustration at seeing people being ripped off for odd jobs, and vowed to provide a better service to the people of Cardiff:
He provides window cleaning, gardening, gutter cleaning, hedge trimming, airport pickups, power washing, house painting, home security… basically anything!
Mark’s unique business operates on a pay what you want policy – ie. you give him whatever you feel is appropriate. He doesn’t quote for jobs, and he’s really honest about payment. He spent 4 hours clearing my garden and trimming a huge hedge – when I tried to pay him he gave me half of the money back ‘because it was too much’!
Alongside his great attitude to business, he’s reliable, punctual, fast, clean, works in any weather, very scrupulous and thorough in his work. Check out his Twitter account for examples of great before and after photos.
If you want to hire Mark, get in touch with him on Twitter or phone him on 07801 432 863 – you won’t be disappointed!
Fluidity Freerun Academy and Splatch care coming together to explode the idea of cabaret, with fierce challenges, audience games and contemporary circus. The event is being run to raise money for the wonderful organisation Performers Without Borders, which teaches performing arts to vulnerable children in countries of high child poverty.
Here’s Esther from Splatch to tell us more…
We’re celebrating the nostalgic Gladiator TV show using the newly opened freerun academy as a platform to create a high adrenaline night with circus spills and thrills, extreme athletic challenges and classic games. Bring your comfy shoes ready to move around and dance your tootsies off after. It runs 8pm until late with a DJ and drinks.
And it’s all in aid of a charity that’s close to our hearts …..
Two Nofit State performers, Sam Goodburn and Esther Fuge will be sharing, teaching and creating the life changing experience and skills of circus with vulnerable and poverty stricken children in Nicaragua. They will be joining a team of 8 performers for a three month tour around schools and community groups to build confidence, develop empowerment and overcome social barriers.
We had an absolute blast at this year’s Sŵn. Photojournalist Chloe Jackson-Nott was out and about capturing the bands and the vibe for us …
Drummer of Himalayas, James Goulborn performing in Moon Club at Swn Festival on Saturday 22nd October 2016.Lead singer of Himalayas, Joseph Williams, performing in Moon Club, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Bassist of Himalayas, Louis Heaps, performing in Moon Club, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Bassist of Himalayas, Louis Heaps, performing in Moon Club, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Ellie James commonly known as Ellie Makes Music, performing downstairs in Clwb Ifor Bach on Saturday 22nd October.Ellie James commonly known as Ellie Makes Music, performing downstairs in Clwb Ifor Bach on Saturday 22nd October.
Fenny Lily performing downstairs in Clwb Ifor Bach on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer of Max Raptor, Will Ray performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Drummer of Max Raptor, Pete Reisner performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer of Max Raptor, Will Ray performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer of Max Raptor, Will Ray performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer of Max Raptor, Will Ray performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer of Max Raptor, Will Ray performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer of Max Raptor, Will Ray performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer of Max Raptor, Will Ray performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer and guitarist of Black Foxxes, Mark Holley, performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer and guitarist of Black Foxxes, Mark Holley, performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Lead singer and guitarist of Black Foxxes, Mark Holley, performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.
Lead singer and guitarist of Black Foxxes, Mark Holley, performing in Tramshed, Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October.Singer Danielle Lewis, performing on the Horizons stage at O’Neils on Saturday 22nd October.Singer Danielle Lewis, performing on the Horizons stage at O’Neils on Saturday 22nd October.Singer Danielle Lewis, performing on the Horizons stage at O’Neils on Saturday 22nd October.Singer Danielle Lewis, performing on the Horizons stage at O’Neils on Saturday 22nd October.
Young Promoters Network working their own stage at Undertone on Sunday 23rd October.
Singer Vince Jones performing on the Young Promoters Network in Undertone on Sunday 23rd October.
Members of Chroma, Zac Mather, Katie Hall and Liam Bevan posing outside Undertone on Sunday 23rd October.Members of Chroma, Zac Mather, Katie Hall and Liam Bevan posing outside Undertone on Sunday 23rd October.Lead singer of Chroma, Katie Hall, performing in Undertone, Cardiff on Sunday 23rd October.Lead singer of Chroma, Katie Hall, performing in Undertone, Cardiff on Sunday 23rd October.Drummer of Chroma, Zac Mather, performing in Undertone, Cardiff on Sunday 23rd October.Lead singer of Chroma, Katie Hall, performing in Undertone, Cardiff on Sunday 23rd October.Bassist of Chroma, Liam Bevan, performing in Undertone, Cardiff on Sunday 23rd October.Lead singer of Chroma, Katie Hall, performing in Undertone, Cardiff on Sunday 23rd October.
Cardiff Contemporary, the Welsh capital’s biennial festival of international contemporary arts starts THIS WEEK! From Thursday 20 October – Saturday 19 November 2016.
The 2016 theme of communication, and title, Are You Ready? references Marconi’s breakthrough radio signal, made from Flat Holm Island to Lavernock Point in 1897.
Ten new artist’s commissions include the activation of a permanent sculpture on Cardiff’s waterfront and the re-appropriation of two derelict city landmarks, where artists will communicate ideas globally and through space and time.
Thirty-one days of artistic challenge and discovery opens across the Welsh capital on Thursday 20 October 2016 as Cardiff Contemporary gets underway for its fourth edition. Drawing together international and Wales-based artists to charge the city streets, galleries, forgotten spaces and communities with the crackle of new and exciting ideas in multi-disciplinary visual, sonic and performance arts. The theme of ‘communication’ looms large, as artists and audiences are urged to look beyond earth, through time and to each other for clues, answers and inspiration.
Taking in historic sites from the city centre to Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Contemporary will find its focus in a temporary hub, ‘The Angel’ developed to include four new gallery spaces across a derelict, former motorcycle garage beneath the city’s Angel Hotel. From here brand new commissions will radiate across Cardiff, including impressive new public sculpture along one of Cardiff’s most public landmarks, a takeover of the imposing-yet-defunct Customs and Immigration Building at Cardiff Bay for an exhilarating, public reclamation and an un-missable light sculpture in the heart of the city centre.
Artists and groups confirmed include: Megan Broadmeadow, Laura Ford, Roman Štětina with curator Louise Hobson, Robert Montgomery, Heather and Ivan Morison, Anthony Shapland, Rob Smith and Charles Danby, tactileBOSCH, Spit & Sawdust with Edwin Burdis and a collaboration between Locus Collective (Richard James, Angharad Van Rjiswijk), comedian and writer, Stewart Lee and Andy Fung. Cardiff Contemporary is a Cardiff Council initiative, developed by Visual Arts Manager, Ruth Cayford.
The themes and overarching title for the festival, ‘Are You Ready?’ is a direct reference to the residency of Guglielmo Marconi in the city. As an exile from Italy where his pioneering vision was met with scepticism, he was supported by the British Post Office to develop his experiments into radio communications technology. Assisted by local engineer, George Kemp, Marconi succeeded in transmitting those three, immortal words in Morse code from Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel to Lavernock Point, Glamorgan on 13 May 1897. Just four years later, the pair succeeded in the first transatlantic radio transmission. Artists have been asked to consider this history and the modern age of instant and relentless communication in developing new work.
Creating a period of city-wide, creative celebration, Cardiff Contemporary coincides with Artes Mundi 7 art prize and exhibition (opening Friday 21 October at National Museum Cardiff and Chapter) and the city-wide Sŵn Music Festival (Friday 21 – Sunday 23 October, various venues).
Commissions, exhibitions and events announced as part of Cardiff Contemporary 2016 to date are as follows:
Megan Broadmeadow: Let The Stars Be Set Upon the Board
Reportedly discovered in 1901, the same year as Marconi’s transatlantic radio transmission, the Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient, bronze instrument of multiple, moving parts described as the earliest analogue computer. Bristol-based artist, Megan Broadmeadow will use this seismic archaeological discovery as the basis for a new sculptural work, simultaneously reflecting on the mechanism’s resting place at the bottom of the Mediterranean and the ancient Egyptian and Greek civilisations that it is related to.
Laura Ford: Keepers of The Wall
Laura Ford’s sculptures, combining tenderness, fantasy with frequent signs of menace to relay political or social comment, will bring something suddenly and mysteriously new to a Cardiff city centre landmark. This project will remain purposely under wraps, exercising the art of surprise.
Roman Štětina: Shave and a haircut – two bits
Czech artist Roman Štětina investigates the processes of creating film, television and radio; making visible the props, technologies and studios of ‘backstage’. At Cardiff Contemporary, Štětina presents a new site-specific installation curated by Louise Hobson. Exploring the narrative of call and response, images within images stretch back in time and space, reflecting in a present that has no more thickness than a mirror.
Robert Montgomery: Cardiff Poem 2016
Beautifully capturing the convergence of prose and visual art, Robert Montgomery’s work in neon, fire, billboards, painting and print has written deeply-affecting statements large across public spaces from Trafalgar Square, London to Tempelhof Field, Berlin. Montgomery will make his latest statement in central Cardiff, illuminating resident’s and visitor’s journeys with an intervention from on high that invites a moment of reflection.
Heather and Ivan Morison: Love Me or Leave Me Alone (LMOLMA)
Combining to deliver work that transcends the divisions between art, architecture and theatre, the duo of Heather and Ivan Morison will activate Cardiff’s waterfront with their first, permanent public building. Located at Cardiff Bay, the meticulously sculpted structure, inspired by stave churches of Norway – a country inextricably linked by historic trade to Cardiff – and ad hoc beach shacks of 1960s West Coast America will appear as a functional food and drink outlet. Love Me or Leave Me Alone will play host to a programme of special events curated by Chapter on Saturday evenings during the festival.
Anthony Shapland: The Hand That Makes The Sound
Signwriting is an art form that is dying out and one of the most common forms of communication spanning the birth of trade and commercialism as we know it. Cardiff-based artist, Anthony Shapland is exploring the art and one of the city’s oldest surviving practitioners of the trade, whose own, physical canon of works has been gradually eroded by the advancement of regeneration, knocking down the workshops and traditional retailers that once proudly bore the fruits of his labour.
Charles Danby and Rob Smith: Limelight
A project that arrives in Cardiff courtesy of PEAK – Contemporary Art in the Black Mountains – and the Canal & River Trust, Charles Danby and Rob Smith return to the rural heartlands above the city, encountering the canals, quarries, tramways, caves and kilns that fed the heavy industries that roared in South Wales. For Limelight, the artists will use digital means to bring reflections on this history to contemporary audiences by streaming a series of live illuminations to a city centre location and online. The material for their work will be limelight itself, an intense white light generated through heating quicklime used in the 19th century for land survey work and stage lighting. Each broadcast will last as long as it takes for the chemical reaction to be exhausted.
tactileBOSCH: Garden of Earthly Delights
Borrowing directly from a masterpiece by the artist collective’s namesake, Hieronymus Bosch, the Garden of Earthly Delights promises a vibrant, prodigious and inclusive multi-media exhibition in the old Customs and Immigration Building, a vast disused building in the historic area of Cardiff Bay, later reconfiguring their work to be presented again in Stadium Plaza in the city centre. Their invigoration of a long-abandoned landmark will be a ‘gesamtkunstwerk’, gathering collaborators together to include site-specific installation, video, painting, photography, sonic art, interdisciplinary collaborations and spontaneous interventions, starting with a wild launch night of live music, cabaret, spoken word and visceral performance art.
Locus Collective (Richard James and Angharad Van Rjiswijk) featuring Stewart Lee and Andy Fung: The Hill of Dreams
An audio-visual, immersive installation based on the psychogeography of childhood and the wider themes explored in Arthur Machen’s book, The Hill of Dreams, Richard and Angharad will travel to locations of their childhood in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and the southern Netherlands to record the landscapes that defined their childhoods. The pair’s collaborative suite of footage, field recordings and archive material will be embellished by comedian and writer, Stewart Lee, recording an original, narrative piece for the audio installation and artist, Andy Fung who will paint an accompanying canvas that reflects on his Trinidadian upbringing.
Spit & Sawdust featuring Edwin Burdis
Occasionally a misunderstood and maligned fixture in city spaces, skateboarders and skate culture are set on a collaborative collision course with artists in a project that draws parallels between the two protagonists. As both visibly inhabit and frequently alter the city spaces that they use, the artist-led collaboration will look to the ‘internal’ language of skating, experimentation in using public space, the conventions by which skateboarders communicate and celebrate new skills and ideas and popular forms of documenting performances, primarily video, as part of this new work. The outcome is intended to be a timely discussion about how we exist in close proximity with others who may have different ideas or agendas.
Full information on each commission, dates, times and locations, plus further events including screenings, talks and workshops, will be published on Cardiff Contemporary’s website: www.cardiffcontemporary.co.uk
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