Summer street food festival to bring live Welsh music to new dedicated stage

Amelia Jones

A brand-new music stage is set to launch at an iconic summer festival, bringing together street food and the best of contemporary Welsh music.

Street Food Circus is launching a new stage for Welsh music this summer in collaboration with Horizons/Gorwelion (BBC Wales/Arts Council of Wales), to provide a platform for emerging Welsh contemporary music talent at its events, starting with Summer Feastival at Pembrey Country Park on 20/21 June.

The new Summer Feastival music tent will host seven BBC Horizons acts: Hudol, Grace Mack & the Pack, Brook Fox, Lucy Borja, Wrenna, DJ Trishna and Galore.

Bethan Elfyn, BBC Cymru Wales presenter and producer said: “Horizons are thrilled to be working with the Street Food Circus team who have such a longstanding creative ethos and atmosphere to their events!

“Horizons is a music project from BBC Wales and Arts Council of Wales with over a decade of working all over the UK and curating, recording, filming and showcasing new Welsh music – so we look forward to bringing new music, new opportunities and entertaining new audiences to the wonderful Pembrey area and enjoying the weekend together as a community.”

Creating a new stage for emerging talent is the latest example of Street Food Circus’ commitment to providing platforms to support new performers, producers and traders.

Each year Street Food Circus recruits new performers for its programme of events, from high wire acts and acrobats, to the actors and musicians who keep crowds and kids entertained throughout the day. Emerging circus companies such as Splatch Circus and acts including the Pembrokeshire Fire Spinners have been able to bring in new recruits and reach a much wider audience, thanks to regular Street Food Circus events.

Street Food Circus also has a mission to develop new Welsh cooking talent and street food traders, taking events to areas throughout South Wales where opportunities to trade would not otherwise exist. This is being expanded to small artisan producers at Summer Feastival with the addition of a new pop-up market.

Traders who have started out or built their businesses through Street Food Circus events have gone on to open restaurants, create multiple street food concepts, publish cookbooks, become TV presenters and win many Welsh and British Street Food Awards.

Creating platforms 

Street Food Circus founder and ringmaster, Matt ‘the Hat’ said: “We created a manifesto when we set up Street Food Circus that was all about creating platforms for new talent – and taking them to parts of Wales where these sorts of events don’t always reach. For ten years, this has seen our street food traders thriving and provided a unique regular opportunity for circus performers in South Wales.

“We are thrilled to be adding live music into this mix, with a new stage dedicated to BBC Horizons acts. It’s an exciting, diverse line-up which means we’ve got something for everyone – and between the great music and our free circus school, we’re hoping to inspire lots more people to get involved in music and performing.”

Summer Feastival runs at Pembrey Country Park from Friday 19 June to Sunday 21 June. Opening hours are Friday (4pm – 10pm), Saturday (10am – 10pm), and Sunday (10am – 7pm).

The BBC Horizons stage runs from 12pm – 9 pm Saturday 20 June and 12pm – 6pm Sunday 21 June

Tickets start at £9.50 and kids go free – book at streetfoodcircus.co.uk.