Inside Shunkfest: The Welsh festival putting grassroots music centre stage

Amelia Jones

If you want to discover new bands, Shunkfest is a hidden goldmine. Now in its fourth year, the Port Talbot festival has built a reputation for championing emerging and independent artists, bringing together a mix of new talent and established names across three days of live music.

Afan Ales is an independent off licence run by Gavin John and Bethan Ceri Davies. It has been hailed for putting Port Talbot on the map after becoming a go-to destination for live music, poetry and comedy.

Rather than relying on a handful of big headliners, Afan Ales’ Shunkfest puts discovery at the heart of the weekend, giving audiences the chance to stumble across their next favourite band in an intimate setting. With around 30 acts taking to the stage this year, there was certainly plenty to discover.

The first day of the festival started off quite unassumingly on a Friday after work. When I first walked into the bar, four photographers sat lining the walls of a venue no bigger than a corner shop waiting for the festival to commence. At that point, I had no idea what was to come.

When I stepped outside, it was as if an entire festival had been squeezed into the pub’s backyard. A coffee shop, bar, portaloos, a barbecue and a sizeable stage filled the space, transforming what initially looked like a small local venue into its own little world.

The first band I caught was Coney, a remarkably young group who had only formed earlier in the year. Their vocalist immediately stood out, delivering a set with quiet confidence.

Their song ‘Ticket’ was a real highlight, and if Shunkfest is about discovering bands before they become too big for places like this, Coney felt like exactly the kind of find the festival was built for.

The Fiends and Mantis kept the momentum going, bringing their own energy to the small stage before the anticipation began to build for Trampolene.

Trampolene were one of the weekend’s most anticipated acts. The Swansea band have long since graduated from the grassroots circuit, having toured extensively across the UK and Europe and shared stages with acts including Liam Gallagher and The Libertines.

Yet there they were, playing to a packed-out tent in a tiny corner of Port Talbot. Their blend of indie rock, punk energy and spoken word felt perfectly suited to a festival built around discovery, and the crowd made it clear they had been waiting for them.

By Saturday, any pretence of the festival being a quiet affair had disappeared. Indie rock band Lost Idols brought an aggressive confidence to the stage, complete with some unexpectedly vigorous maraca work, before ending their set with their version of Limp Bizkit’s ‘Rollin.’

Maeve were something altogether harder to define. Lead singer Lewys Harvard spent much of the performance lying in the gravel in front of the stage, at one point using his microphone as a heart monitor as he launched into a stream of muffled lyrics.

Every member of the band seemed to have their own look and personality, and somehow all those individual quirks came together to create something that glued perfectly.

Then there were The Sporks, playing Shunkfest for the fourth time — meaning they have been there for every edition of the festival. Their set started relatively slowly, but things soon escalated.

With a ladder resting against the side of the marquee, singer Evan Waters climbed to the top and continued performing from above before eventually running a marathon through the crowd. He made it back to the stage just in time to end the song, announcing to the audience “that’s taken it out of me” through stifled breath.

The Lost Cause brought another memorable moment. Formed at Afan Ales, the band initially looked as though they had wandered in from a Marks & Spencer advert, dressed in rather oversized suits as they began their set.

Towards the end, however, they ripped their suits off which sent the crowd into a t-shirt twirling frenzy. This was their final gig as a band, with three members preparing to start a new project. It was described simply by their guitarist Aled Russ, who sported orange-framed glasses to match his electric guitar, as a ‘heavier’ band.

By then, the crowd had fully embraced the chaos. Men stood shirtless, singing along to ‘Anxiety Problems,’ while one man danced in a bird mask and another held up a shirt emblazoned with ‘Shunk.’

The ladder made another appearance, although this time Scottish Sandy — who I assume worked at the pub — was having none of it. With a tut, he confiscated it and announced he was going to hide it somewhere they would never find it again.

The Shunkos were next, continuing the distinctly Port Talbot feel of the weekend. Their lead singer stood on stage seemingly unbothered in sunglasses, and holding a sizeable stack of pint cups as he sang.

Their vocals were strong and comical lyrics were a highlight, particularly their song about having a chippy tea.

At one point, a fan decided they loved the performance enough to buy the singer a pint and add it to his collection, without realising that the cup already sitting on top was full. The resulting sticky explosion sent blue roll flying through the air before it landed dramatically on the stage.

Headlining Saturday were The Family Battenberg. There was an almost innocent quality to them as they first walked onto the stage, perhaps it was something to do with their name? However, their red-lit set quickly proved anything but innocent.

Their scream-infused funk filled the tent, while a couple who had been dancing since The Lost Cause continued jumping in circles at the front of the crowd as though trapped inside a never-ending music video.

By Sunday, even festival co-organiser Davies seemed surprised by what Shunkfest had become. She told me she could hardly believe that people kept coming back each day.

That sense of loyalty was visible everywhere, from the San Portablo clothing being worn throughout the crowd to the constant support shown to the bands and the venue itself.

Welsh comedian Sandro Ford also made an appearance for the last day of the festival, there not just to watch the music but to support one of his favourite local pubs.

Oscar Hartland (best known as Neil the Baby from Gavin & Stacey) kicked off the final day, although arriving late meant his set was cut short, he did squeeze in a quick Foo Fighters cover.

Contra followed with a strong set, including a saxophone-led version of ‘Tequila’, before Brook Fox brought the crowd together with ‘Everybody’s In Love.’ The song had people singing along, while his newer material showed there was more to come from him.

Then came Black Havana, who carried themselves with the edge of a band far larger than the tiny stage they were occupying. James Benjamin’s guitar work cut through the noise of the festival and demanded attention, effortlessly weaving through the songs with a richness that gave the set real weight.

Singer Camryn Thomas leaned fully into his rock ’n’ roll persona, lighting a cigarette during their final song, ‘R Time’, which brought the set to a suitably smoky conclusion.

As evening fell over Shunkfest, something seemed to take over the crowd. It almost stopped mattering who was on stage. They were simply ready to enjoy whoever came next.

Waterpistol brought a late-60s feel to the stage, with little crowd interaction but no shortage of people energetically dancing along.

Pigeon Wigs then shifted the mood again, bringing something heavier and re-energising the audience just in time for Scottish band Doss.

Having travelled from Scotland that day to play the festival, Doss were not about to ease anyone gently towards the end of the weekend. Their heavy sound produced one final mosh pit in front of the stage, bringing Shunkfest to a suitably chaotic close.

The work behind the a festival like Shunkfest is no small feat. Organisers John and Davies joked on the first day that putting the festival together each year nearly ends in divorce, but their dedication to the event and the grassroots music scene is clear.

Davies said: “No one else is doing what we do. It doesn’t make us that much money, but we do it because we care so much about the music and the community.”

It is that sense of community that seems to run through every part of Shunkfest. From the bands supporting one another to familiar faces returning each year, there is a feeling that everyone is invested in keeping the festival alive.

When I asked John to describe Shunkfest in one word, his answer was: “Chaos.”

After three days of ladders, flying blue roll, shirtless crowds, mosh pits and bands travelling from across the UK, it is difficult to argue with him. But beneath the chaos is something much more deliberate: a festival built around supporting grassroots music, giving new artists a stage and creating a community that keeps coming back.

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