Musicians, photographers, filmmakers, and content creators gathered for an inspiring evening of collaboration and conversation at Creative West Wales’ latest event.

A well-attended panel discussion and networking event held in Ffwrn, Fishguard last month, focused on the use of social media and digital images to market the music sector.

A panel of experts from the music industry including Siân Adler of Trigger Happy Creative, Alun Llwyd CEO of PYST Ltd and Owain Elidir Williams, founder of music magazine Klust, discussed the use of social media platforms as a tool for the creative industries.

A speed-networking session enabled those attending to connect with fellow creatives from across the sectors and explore potential collaborations, business opportunities and support.

Siân said: “It’s really exciting to see projects like Creative West Wales exist – it can be difficult to make new connections in the industry especially outside of the city but having opportunities like the panel/networking event held at Ffwrn was great. 

“Every year our company films at Other Voices Festival and are always looking for local crew so to be able to meet and connect with local creatives was a great opportunity for us.”

The Creative West Wales event was funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund and supported by Pembrokeshire County Council’s business team.

Creative Industries Officer Anwen Baldwin said: “It was great to get so many talented local people with a range of skills together in one room. Often people are unaware of fellow creatives who may be living and working just down the road. 

“Hopefully this will lead to many future collaborations. We’ve already had positive feedback about the value of this event, and plan to arrange more networking events of this kind to bring people together from across the sectors.”

Creative West Wales aims to facilitate conversations and connections. Primarily focusing on the music, screen, gaming, publishing and animation sectors, the network links people working in the creative industries across the counties of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, in a bid to share opportunities, information and encourage collaboration.To find out more about the available activities or to join the Creative West Wales Network please visit: www.creativewest.wales

PLANS to modernise the Welsh Wildlife Centre near Cardigan with a new public entrance and a raft of other works which will make it more accessible to all have been submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council.

The Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales seeks permission for a long list of changes at the Welsh Wildlife Centre, Cilgerran, including an extension to the visitor centre building and associated works, with a new public entrance with a timber canopy roof structure, an open terrace with ancillary rooms below, an enclosed platform lift for disabled access, an external stepped access, a new pathway connection, reconfiguration of the vehicle turning area and disabled parking bays, a replacement footbridge, a new plant enclosure and the introduction of ‘Brise Soleil’ to the south and west.

A supporting statement, by Childs Sulzmann Architects, says: “The visitor centre was built in the 1990s with an award-winning concept design. However, the usability of the building and some elements of its condition have deteriorated over the years, requiring modernisation.

“In particular, access to the visitor centre for people on the approach to the building is confusing and unclear, with external entrance doors provided at each side of the building. For instance, visitors can often be found in the offices on the lower ground floor level by mistake, whilst looking for the shop or café which are provided on the upper floors.”

It adds: “The Welsh Wildlife Centre welcomes an average of 70,000 visitors per year including tourists and has a strong local following. Whilst the centre is much-loved, there are a number of inherent failings developing at the site which are putting pressure on the centre’s ability to operate and WTSWW are addressing these with a programme of building and site improvements with the support of external funding bodies.”

It says: “This important local facility and visitor attraction will be enhanced and improved, by providing a clear and legible single entrance to the building, together with re-configured accessible parking bays and a platform lift for wheelchair users and ambulant disabled people to directly access the new public entrance.

“Further improvements to accessibility, which include the new external stairway to the open terrace and public entrance, the widened replacement footbridge and the connecting path to link the accessible parking area with the main footpath to the visitor centre, will contribute to the principles of promoting and providing access for all.”

Plans for a new play area at the Welsh Wildlife Centre near Cardigan were recently approved by Pembrokeshire County Council.

The latest proposals will be considered by county planners at a later date.

THE fifth Other Voices Cardigan 2024 Festival was a record breaker, having attracted more than 15,000 music fans from across the world to the pretty Mid Wales coastal town over three days.

The event, which ran from October 31to November 2, featured a curated programme celebrating music, friendship, language, ideas and culture from both sides of the Irish Sea and beyond.

Festival highlights included stellar performances from Nadine Shah, Bill Ryder Jones, and Fabiana Palladino.

St Mary’s Church audiences were treated to an acoustic performance by Manics’ frontman James Dean Bradfield, who performed special renditions of the classics ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’, ‘A Design for Life’, and ‘Ready for Drowning’.

Other Church performers this year include Charlotte Day Wilson, Melys, Victor Ray, and Georgia Ruth. 

Providing an extraordinary and inspiring programme across a myriad of musical genres, events took place in cafes, bars, places of worship and arts venues.    

More than 42 established and emerging acts from Wales and Ireland played the Music Trail and around 300 artists and crew worked and performed. The festival also boosted the local economy, with many businesses reporting increased foot traffic and sales during the event.

Over the past weekend, the festival saw more than 15,000 individual event admissions to more than 100 performances across the weekend, representing a 36% increase on 2023.

Visitors from outside Wales also increased significantly by 41%, with music fans coming from Ireland, Italy, New York, Sweden and Germany.

“This year has been another fantastic success,” said Dilwyn Davies, chief executive of Mwldan, co-producers of the event. “We’ve celebrated the vibrancy and vitality of the music scenes on both sides of the Irish Sea, and the spirit of our communities.

“The audience response has been incredibly positive and joyous, and we can’t wait to bring everyone together again in 2025.”

Phillip King, founder of Other Voices, added: “Cardigan/Aberteifi came alive with great music and stimulating and provocative banter when Other Voices came to town this past weekend.

“The event is growing and expanding year on year, attracting more visitors to this beautiful town. It’s a real delight to bring Other Voices across the Irish Sea, to collapse between Ireland and Wales and to bring us together in a way that deepens and strengthens every aspect of our relationship.”

Church performances were live-streamed on Other Voices YouTube channel and simultaneously streamed to the big screen at Mwldan in Cardigan. Highlights will be later broadcast on BBC Wales TV, BBC iPlayer and RTÉ and RTÉ Player via media partners. The event was presented by BBC DJ and Other Voices regular Huw Stephens.

Other Voices Cardigan is staged with the support and investment of Welsh Government and Government of Ireland, The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and The Department of Foreign Affairs’ Reconciliation Fund.

The festival is produced by South Wind Blows in partnership with Mwldan and Triongl. This project is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, supported by Ceredigion County Council.