Awen Cultural Trust’s hugely popular Seascape family festival returns for a second year on Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June, with a fun-packed programme of free outdoor performances taking at locations across Porthcawl.
The aim of Seascape is to provide the local community and visitors with an exciting schedule of high quality creative ‘pop-up’ cultural events to enjoy whilst the town’s Grand Pavilion is closed for its multi-million pound redevelopment, and provide accessible arts experiences for all ages.
On Saturday 31st May, live music will be provided by the Rock Choir, indie duo Lonely Tourist and The Old Time Sailors, a lively 20-piece sea shanty band. Rock-infused soulful reggae band Captain Accident will headline at Cosy Corner.
On Sunday 1st June, the live music programme at Cosy Corner includes a performance by Bridgend Youth Theatre members and Osian Meilir’s Welsh folk dance inspired production of Mari Ha! Party band The Pandas will headline.
Visitors can also expect a visual spectacle at Griffin Park – a new location for 2025 – with Splatch Productions’ outdoor circus performance Strange Weather on the Saturday and Fish Boy by 2Faced Dance on the Sunday.
Those heading to the harbour on either day can enjoy Talking Bird’s The Whale, a giant metal creature which ‘swallows’ the audience whole to enjoy a memorable multi-sensory and accessible theatre experience inside.
Other entertainment throughout the weekend will include: Cruisetopia, a performance from the Kitsch n Sync Collective; puppetry and bubble entertainment with Aquanauts Adrift, Louby Lou’s Sea Turtles; Gary and Pel’s land-based pedalo ‘Swan in Love’; and silent discos.
There will also be opportunities to see and support local community performances at the bandstand in John Street. These performances will showcase musical talent developing through local open mic events.
There will be British Sign Language interpretation for all live music at Cosy Corner, a quiet sensory zone and sensory packs, including headphones, will be available to borrow (subject to availability) from the information point.
This year, Awen will be working in partnership with Tanio and Beach Academy to support Beach of Dreams, a month-long UK-wide coastal arts festival, which is exploring the unique heritage, cultures and future of our coastline, in the face of the climate emergency.
As part of Seascape, there will be an outdoor display of fabric pennants, created by local groups in collaboration with Tanio and Naseem Syed, one of Awen’s Associate Artists, before the event, and at workshops during Seascape. A parade will take place on both Saturday and Sunday.
Ziba Creative will be out and about spreading messages of positivity and kindness using colourful and creative pom poms. They will be helping people make a climate pledge about protecting our oceans and shorelines all weekend.
Richard Hughes, Chief Executive of Awen Cultural Trust, said:
“At Awen, we aim to provide and facilitate enjoyable, free and accessible events which people together to experience culture in safe and familiar spaces while at the same time helping to boost the local economy. Last year’s Seascape festival was attended by thousands of people, contributing to an increase in town centre footfall over the weekend and benefiting local businesses.
“We had great feedback from those who attended in 2024 and from those local businesses who saw a demonstrable uptick in their revenues over the weekend. We hope to welcome back even more people this year; a full programme of events will be published soon. We are grateful to our partner organisations, which include Arts Council of Wales and Bridgend County Borough Council, who recognise the role of culture in supporting the local economy and continue to support the festival into 2025.”
Councillor Jane Gebbie, Deputy Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council, added:
“The return of the Seascape Festival to Porthcawl promises to be bigger, better and even more successful than last year’s event, which attracted thousands of visitors and was of huge benefit to the local economy.
“Porthcawl already has a reputation as a wonderful seaside resort, and the Grand Pavilion has long featured at the heart of this. While work continues on the multi-million pound refurbishment and regeneration of the iconic venue, the Seascape Festival is helping to keep arts and culture alive within the town through a series of amazing free ‘pop up’ events, and I am looking forward to seeing what surprises it has in store for 2025.”
