For those who may not know, The Laugharne Weekend (24-26 March 2023) is an annual literary and arts festival in West Wales. It takes place across several venues in the town of Laugharne whose most famous inhabitant was Dylan Thomas who described it as a “timeless, mild, beguiling island of a town.”
Personally, I find that small-scale festivals like this, which are bound by the town’s boundaries take on a magic of their own which draws back punters year after year. I also love the balance this festival offers between music, book readings and poetry. The New Statesman described it as inspiring “…much talking and drinking late into the night, a beacon of chaos in an over-organised world of festivals.”
According to the festival’s co-founders, Richard Thomas and the Cardiff writer John Williams,
“The point is that it’s a festival that involves the locality.”
The festival directors have also said:
“I’d sooner start another festival than let it grow too big.”
Richard Thomas also organises The Penderyn Music Book Prize and the winner is announced at The Laugharne Weekend. You may recall that Shirley Collins won in 2019 for – ‘All In The Downs’.
It’s probably fair to say that, thanks to their size, their line-up is always a fine-tuned selection that offers amazing breadth. Not surprisingly, they have sold out but they are setting up a live stream for the first time.
In their own words:
This year for the first time, we are offering the chance to experience the Laugharne Weekend from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you lay your laptop). We will provide three days of professionally filmed content direct from Laugharne. There will be a mix of live shows plus exclusive online content – interviews with selected acts etc. The coverage will start on Friday afternoon and continue right through till Sunday night. We are still finalising the exact timings – and we can’t broadcast absolutely everything as we can only livestream from one venue at a time – but live acts will definitely include Mark Thomas, Martin and Eliza Carthy, PP Arnold, Vashti Bunyan, Bonnie Garmus, James Yorkston, Sophie Scott etc, etc. The full live-streaming programme will be released early next Monday on our website – https://www.thelaugharneweekend.com/line-up .
Tickets to view the live stream for the entire weekend are priced at £20 and are available only from their website – https://www.thelaugharneweekend.com/tickets
Their full festival programme, along with those appearances being livestreamed, will be announced on Monday, March 13th. The current festival lineup includes:
John Cooper Clarke, Sophie Scott, Linton Kwesi Johnson, PP Arnold, Mark Thomas, Chris Difford, Keith Allen, Isy Suttie, Jonathan Pie, Martin & Eliza Carthy, James Yorkston, Vashti Bunyan, Brian Bilston, Tessa Hadley, Bonnie Garmus, Euros Childs, Robin Ince, Owen Sheers, Martin Rowson, Christie Watson, Angeline Morrison, Henry Normal, Jim Crace, Bob Stanley, Darryl Bullock, Colin Grant, Peter Finch, Helen O’Hara, John Higgs, Luke Wright, Martin Rowson, Travis Elborough, Matthew Yeomans, Joanna Neary and Ben Moor, Y Dail, Morning Arcade, Pigeon Wigs, Hyll, The Family Battenberg , Samana, Angel Hotel, Red Telephone.