Betws-y-Coed Arts Festival - Snowdonia, North Wales

The first Betws-y-Coed Arts Festival was held between 16th and 19th April 2009 in the village of Betws-y-Coed in the Conwy Valley in Snowdonia, North Wales. Planning has already started for the next bigger and better festival which will be held from Friday 8th October to Sunday 10th October 2010.

Ever since the original artists' colony, Betws-y-Coed and the Conwy Valley have retained a strong connection with the arts. Many artists and craftsmen live and work in the area, and in this 165th year since David Cox’s first visit to Betws-y-Coed, the festival has been organised to celebrate the artistic heritage of the area and those artists currently working here.

From a bustling opening evening in the company of Elfyn Llwyd MP through a series of exhibitions, talks, workshops, musical events, and story walks to the conclusion of the festival on a sunny spring evening, the organisers of the first Betws-y-Coed Arts Festival are pleased to have got the event off to a successful start.

Before the event, pupils from Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy and Betws-y-Coed Primary School benefited from taking part in art projects with Alison Bradley and Bernadette Rippon, and it was wonderful to see this work up on display in the Alison Bradley Gallery for the festival weekend.

Highlights throughout the festival included a collection of paintings from the 1844-1914 Betws-y-Coed artists’ colony, a talk by art historian Peter Lord about the colony, a series of well attended art workshops, a number of musical events, and the opening of Coed-y-Celyn Hall where visitors were treated to a personal tour by artist Barbara Shorrocks-Carter.

Despite variable attendance across the three days, which can be expected in the first year of any event like this, the organisers were delighted that the feedback from visitors, artists, and locals alike was overwhelmingly positive.

Planning has already started for the next bigger and better festival and to that end the organisers would welcome expressions of interest from artists who would like to take part.

This years festival will be closely followed by the Snowdonia Walking Festival a week later.