– Ideas and stories meet discussion and performance at Other Voices Cardigan Festival
– 31 October – 2 November 2024 | Cardigan, West Wales
The Clebran sessions return as part of Other Voices Cardigan festival between 31 October and 2 November this year. Three days of wide-ranging discussions between inspiring people from all walks of life, that look to inspire, examine and entertain, alongside performances that will delight.
There will be discussion and performance from an exciting array of voices including musicians and artists, druids and folklorists, politicians and professors, authors, journalists, football professionals, dancers and farmers join us to navigate conversations through community, collectivism, traditions and ritual.
The festival opens on the 31 October with a meeting of druids. The Dingle Druid, Julí Ní Mhaoileóin, will join forces with Welsh druid Carys Eleri to perform a ceremony that marks the coming together of our sister nations and Samhain this Halloween eve.
The ceremony will be accompanied by a discussion – ‘The New Pagans’ – between the two druids and folklorist, archaeologist and lecturer Dr. Billy Mag Fhloinn to set the scene for the event.
On Friday the 1 November, CEO of the Football Association of Wales Noel Mooney will join former international footballer, UFEA Vice President/Executive Committee Member and Professor of Public Policy Laura McAllister join writer/presenter Darren Chetty to talk about the activism and community collectivism of football, beyond the boundaries of the pitch in “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
Delyth Jewell MS, Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chriost and theatre academic Marianne Kennedy join historian and writer Dr Christopher Kissane to explore the rekindling of ancient bonds across the Irish Sea in the face of a post-Brexit world for the panel ‘Stronger Together’… what can we hope for from this evolving landscape?
On Saturday the 2 of November, Lecturer Dr Lowri Cunnington Wynn, creative director at Blueprint James Dovey, and dancer, farmer, and community activist Edwina Guckian discuss the radical act of staying put with Christopher Kissane in ‘The Grass Isn’t Always Greener’. There will also be a dance performance from Edwina Guckian as part of this panel.
Also on Saturday, ‘Common Ground’ brings together voices from either side of the Irish Sea to discuss the rich history of farming and food in both contexts. Journalist and organic farmer Hannah Quinn-Mulligan talks to author and gardener Carwyn Graves under the kind shepherding of food history writer Christopher Kissane.
Later that day, ‘Now Playing’ brings Tumi Williams (Skunkadelic/Afrocluster/Starving Artists) and Max Zanga (Filmore!/Tebi Rex) together to discuss the inspiring work they do, on and off stage, to promote black music in Wales and Ireland respectively.
New for 2024 we have Clebran on the Trail – intimate conversations with musicians taking place in Music Trail venues around the town. Line-up to be announced.
An Other Voices wristband gives you access to all Clebran and Clebran Trail discussions (on a first come first served basis). See www.othervoices.ie for further details.
Taking place over three days between 31 October and 2 November this year’s Other Voices Cardigan festival will showcase a glorious line-up of musical and cultural events in intimate venues and atmospheric spaces throughout Cardigan town.
Other Voices Cardigan is staged with the support of Welsh Government and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, The Department of Foreign Affairs’ Reconciliation Fund and 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, Levelling Up supported by Ceredigion County Council.