A small festival with big plans: Big Love festival links up with East Africa
A much-loved festival nestled in the Monmouthshire countryside has big plans to shine a spotlight on East African music, art and culture this summer.
Big Love festival attracts around 3,000 attendees each year with its vibrant mix of music, art installations, and performances — Thanks to a British Council International Collaboration Grant will grow bigger and bolder in 2025 through a new partnership with Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Festival,.
The collaboration with Nyege Nyege, renowned for its vibrant celebration of East African arts and music, began in November 2024 when Big Love’s team travelled to Uganda to work with local artists and refugees.
They shared their expertise in site decoration and creative installations, training local craftspeople to enhance the event’s visual impact. Now, plans are afoot to bring a flavour of Nyege Nyege to Wales.
Challenges
Big Love’s Creative Director, David Robertson said: “We were out in Uganda for just two weeks – we flew out to the festival a week and a half before it began, and then were there for the festival itself, and two days for take down.
“We were blown away by Uganda and Ugandans, everyone was so friendly, and it’s such a beautiful country.
“The festival itself takes place in the vibrant town of Jinja, on the banks of the source of the river Nile. One major difference though between their festival and ours is the wildlife! There were venomous spiders everywhere and the groundsman removed over 30 cobras from the site in our first week.
“There were literally holes in the ground where the snakes were living. At first, we were kind of very nervous about it, but just got so blasé by the end of our time there.
“There were also other challenges for sure – it seemed like there was one ladder between the whole site that we were all fighting over. We ended up having to hire our own ladder because we just couldn’t get work done. There was also a lot more security than we’re used to, with lots of police and airport-style metal detectors.”
A new dimension
Despite these challenges, the Big Love team took a lot away from the experience.
David said: “We’d brought four suitcases with some of our own décor with us, which we thought we could reuse out there quickly and make an impact.
“We then went to nearby markets and worked with some of the local artists and guides, including refugees from Congo and Sudan, to get the materials that we needed and show the Nyege Nyege team how we make things.
“We ended up hanging decorations 12 ft up from the trees and decorating a huge festival tent. We also learnt lots from the local craftspeople that we hope to incorporate at home, including how to make better use of wood in quick, low-cost, and innovative ways, and making decorations out of scrap metal.”
For Big Love, David and his team plan to bring some really high-quality acts – both performers and artists – from East Africa to Wales.
He said: “It would bring a totally new dimension to Big Love, as there’s a lot of interesting music and talent coming out of East Africa. We’ve always had a diverse lineup of music and our audiences are quite open to different styles and genres. Whatever we do decide, it will be guided by the Nyege Nyege team and what works for them – it might be a mix of visual artists and musicians, or just one or the other, but we’re open to both.
“We’re also thinking of the theme of the “World in Wales” for 2025 and would like to create an event this year that celebrates Wales’ multicultural identity. We would love to collaborate with local community groups, particularly those representing different cultures that have immigrated to South Wales and showcase how they have enriched and benefitted Welsh culture.
“Cardiff for example, traditionally being one of the big seaports, has always had a large African community especially with Somalian, Ethiopians and Eritreans.
“I think whatever we do, it’s going to make our audience kind of sit back and go, ‘Wow, that’s something I’ve not heard or seen before’, and hopefully want to investigate more.”
Big Love
British Council’s International Collaboration Grants aim to support UK artists to develop creative artwork with international peers, encouraging innovative ways of working and collaborating. Through this funding round, Cardiff-based 4pi Productions have also been successful, and their project will build on previous work with Matamba Film Labs in Zimbabwe.
Entitled ‘Future Femmes – XR labs’, the project will see them head to the country’s capital of Harare in April, where they will train female creatives in immersive technologies, while also producing a new innovative 360° dance film.
Commenting on the International Collaboration Grants, Ruth Cocks, Director, British Council Wales., said: “It’s fantastic to have these Welsh projects as part of our International Collaboration Grants. Big Love Festival’s exciting partnership will bring a unique international flavour to Wales, as artists from East Africa join the Big Love Festival this summer.
“By exchanging skills, ideas, and cultures, this collaboration will not only enhance the festival experience for Welsh audiences, but also build lasting connections that celebrate creativity and community across borders.
“We look forward to seeing how this and 4pi’s project develop across 2025 and the impact they will have on our creative scenes.”
Twenty-four projects across the UK were successful through British Council’s International Collaboration grants. To find out more about the fund visit: https://arts.
International Collaboration Grants continue the British Council’s work, building connection, understanding and trust between people in the UK and overseas through arts, education and English language teaching. To find out more about their work in Wales visit https://wales.britishcouncil.
Tickets are now on sale for Big Love Festival which this year runs from 17-20 July 2025. For more information, visit https://
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