The inaugural Gwyl Pili Pala festival is happening this year on the weekend of 17 & 18 May 2013, spanning seven venues performers include a myriad of artists, both musical and literary showcasing their talents across Swansea’s historic Uplands area.
Musical highlights include the affecting electro-folk multi media experience of Laurence Made Me Cry, the haunted harmonies and sparse instrumentation of Winter Villains, the garage rock sleeze of Swansea’s Heavy Petting Zoo, while the headliners are Masters in France play Sin City on Saturday 18th.Elsewhere Cardiff’s See Monkey Do Monkey Records will be curating a stage featuring Houdini Dax, the Keys and more, and Carmarthen’s Write4Word will be hosting literary events featuring established and emerging Welsh writers, including workshops in Dylan Thomas’s birthplace.Fjords, Denuo, Greta Isaac, We’re No Heroes, Violas, The People the Poet and many more.
Venues, include literary workshops in Dylan Thomas’ childhood home at Cwmdonkin drive, the festival will celebrate and give stage to Welsh talent, coalescing and giving voice to exciting artists from across Wales.The festival is also running in support of the West Glamorgan Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, harnessing and celebrating the transformative effect of art to raise awareness of the services and programs the organization provides, but also to de-stigmatize perceptions of addiction and substance misuse.
Pili Pala is situated across 7 venues, including the beautiful St. James Church, the intimate surroundings of The Chattery (feel free to eat a cheese course with the gig) and rock and metal stalwarts The Garage and Sin City. Weekend Wristbands are now on sale for just £15 online at www.seetickets.com and Derricks, Spillers, Cadno music.
‘Pili Pala’ – welsh for Butterfly – is a symbol of recovery, and the festival is a celebration of thetransformative role the arts can play in all forms of recovery. Events will take place at traditional licensed stages and alcohol-free zones. Drug and alcohol problems affect tens of thousands of people in Wales each year, but it’s a very difficult cause to generate support and understanding for. There’s a long standing link between the arts and addiction, but usually a negative one. Pili Pala intends to turn that
association on its head- “It’s all about de-stigmatising perceptions of addiction and substance misuse, and celebrating the powerful role the arts play in changing lives,” says festival organizer Angela Muir.
For more information about Gwyl Pili Pala Festival please visit our website www.pilipala.org www.facebook.com/PiliPalaFest. Tickets are available from www.wegottickets.com or at Derricks
Records in Swansea.
