Cynefin and Alaw - Fishguard Folk Festival

Cynefin (pronounced ‘kuh-neh-vin’) is the brainchild of Welsh folk singer, researcher and cultural historian Owen Shiers.

The project’s acclaimed debut album Dilyn Afon (2020), marked the culmination of three years’ research mapping long forgotten and neglected folk songs of his native Ceredigion. The Guardian hailed Shiers as ‘a stunning new talent’ and Songlines dubbed it “beguiling…a distinct debut”. Nominations for Welsh Language Album of the Year 2020 and three nominations in the 2023 Wales Folk Awards followed.

The second album Shimli (2025), is rooted firmly in the customs and cultural vernacular of the area.

Drawing inspiration from living oral history and folk song-poet tradition. Owen says it’s: “a personal dispatch from the struggle to preserve a language, culture and way of life,” adding, “the album is a musical petition – a stake in the ground for the diverse and the disappearing in our age of homogenisation and mass amnesia.”

Award-winning Celtic Welsh folk outfit Alaw has a reputation for bringing together a trio of top musical talents. This new and exciting incarnation of Alaw has founding member Dylan Fowler on guitar, singer Nia Lynn and fiddle player Patrick Rimes.

The band’s sound has evolved with new material alongside fresh takes on Alaw’s classic repertoire. Soloist, composer and arranger, Dylan Fowler has collaborated with musicians across the world during 30 years on the professional music scene and has released two solo CDs on the Acoustic Music Records label.

Nia Lynn (Yr Hwntas) is a singer, folk and jazz specialist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. And Patrick Rimes (Calan, VRï) one of the most familiar faces on the Welsh music scene. An accomplished composer, and arranger, he is a trained viola player and can regularly be found playing traditional fiddle and pipes in folk line-ups performing internationally.

Fishguard Folk Festival - 3 Daft Monkeys

With a fiery helter-skelter blend of influences from East and West, 3 Daft Monkeys inject a unique wildness into their music, producing a symphonious cacophony of styles. Vocal melodies soar above percussive global beats and rhythms, while passionate fiddle-driven tunes weave around animated guitar and bass, all presented with outstanding musicianship in their famously theatrical live performances.

The band's recent new album Information Camouflage has received stunning reviews and has already been heralded by critics as their “album of the year 2024”. This multi-award-winning live act continue to deliver dynamic, rampageous, powerful performances of completely original songs with endless energy and enthusiasm.

With many years of international festival experience in hand, 3 Daft Monkeys know how to work a festival crowd, and are guaranteed to whip an audience into a frenzy of emotions with every performance.

FOOL’S PARADISE

Luminescent and shimmering, Fool’s Paradise marked the first of Wheeldon’s many collaborations with composer Joby Talbot. It was created in 2007 for Wheeldon’s own company, Morphoses, and

first performed in 2012 by The Royal Ballet.

Yn oleuol ac yn symudliw, roedd Fool’s Paradise yn nodi’r cyntaf o gydweithrediadau niferus Wheeldon gyda’r cyfansoddwr Joby Talbot. Fe’i crëwyd yn 2007 ar gyfer cwmni Wheeldon ei hun, Morphoses, a’i pherfformio gyntaf yn 2012 gan The Royal Ballet.

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THE TWO OF US

The wistful songs of Joni Mitchell set the scene for the UK premiere of The Two of Us, a duet of deep intimacy and yearning. It was created in 2020 for the Fall for Dance Festival in New York, and had American ballet dancers Sarah Mearns and David Hallberg in its original cast.

Gosododd caneuon dirdynnol Joni Mitchell y llwyfan ar gyfer perfformiad cyntaf y DU o The Two of Us, deuawd o agosatrwydd a dyhead dwfn. Fe’i crëwyd yn 2020 ar gyfer Gŵyl Fall for Dance yn Efrog Newydd, ac roedd gan y dawnswyr bale Americanaidd Sarah Mearns a David Hallberg yn ei gast gwreiddiol.