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Narberth A Cappella Voice Festival 2018 sees the return of festival favourites London Bulgarian Choir for a special 10th anniversary performance on Saturday 5th May at The Queens Hall, Narberth. This fabulous and award-winning Choir will headline Saturday nights concert with a vibrant, sociable and wonderful performance of Bulgarian songs sung by 25 open-hearted singers reflecting all nationalities, ages and abilities. The songs performed by the London Bulgarian Choir are arrangements of traditional and ancient Bulgarian songs. Some tell powerful tales of love and loss, fighting and celebration, while others are inspired by the daily fabric of life. From its early days as a handful of singers, the choir has grown into an extended ensemble bringing its repertoire of traditional Bulgarian songs to concert halls, churches, nightclubs, galleries, festivals, embassies, village squares and even a barge on the River Thames. This incredible choir was founded in 2000 by Dessislava Stefanova (Dessi), a former singer with the legendary Philip Koutev Bulgarian National Folk Ensemble in Sofia, and thanks to her patience and dedication this group of largely non-Bulgarian singers has become a performing tour de force, winning hearts and minds from the Welsh valleys to Bulgaria’s mountain villages. There is something […]

The 10th Narberth A Cappella Voice Festival will launch on Friday 4th May at The Queens Hall with an incredible line up headlined by The Bristol Suspensions, a mixed a cappella group from the University of Bristol and Voice Festival 2016 Champions. Also on the line up is the timeless Heather Jones and talented Mide collaborating with Narberth A Cappella Youth Collective with Molara Formed in October 2014, the group has cemented its status as an established group in the UK A Cappella scene. Now in their fourth year, they have already recorded two albums, released three music videos and many live videos, been on the radio four times, placed at the ICCA Semi-finals, had an official sell out Fringe run, toured North-Eastern USA, received awards for Outstanding Arrangement, Choreography and Vocal Percussion, appeared on BBC One’s Pitch Battle and won The Voice Festival UK. First on stage is Heather Jones, previously one third of the ‘holy trinity’ of Welsh musicians (alongside Meic Stevens and Geraint Jarman), who together were instrumental in developing the Welsh Rock scene in the 70s.  Hardly surprising, then, that her album “Goreuon Heather” is a memorable collection of the nation’s cultural ambassador’s folk and rock

The highly-anticipated BIG Plant Sale returns on Saturday 28 April 2018 at the Town Moor, Narberth. The BIG Plant Sale is one of the most important dates on Pembrokeshire’s gardening calendar, and this year it’s 25 years old! It’s been a much-loved part of the Narberth calendar for so long that the spring in Pembrokeshire wouldn’t be the same without it. Not only is it an important date in the gardening calendar, it is also hugely important for Span Arts as it helps raises funds for the Narberth-based charity committed to providing performances and arts experiences for people from all over Pembrokeshire. Last year, over 1,000 visitors attended the event over the course of the day, and we hope to attract even more this year. With it being a hugely successful event, attendees travel from near and far to take advantage of West Wales’ finest plant-sellers, as well as the quality live music, local food and drink, sights, smells, and friendly atmosphere. Expect textiles, floristry, surf wear, a craft area containing a range of selected local designers and makers showing and selling their work, and more. There’s even entertainment for the kids in the form of a bouncy castle and face painting! The Plant Sale

Span Arts is thrilled to announce a fabulous line up to mark the 10th anniversary of Narberth A Cappella Voice Festival, the only acapella festival in Wales. Join us from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th May for what is set to be an unforgettable and uplifting weekend to celebrate our anniversary and the extraordinary diversity of singing without instruments. The three-day festival has seen great headliners over the years and this year is no exception, with a diverse range of artists and styles making an appearance. As ever, the festival features a range of exciting workshops and the chance to take part in a community singing day, fun for all ages and abilities. To celebrate our 10th anniversary in style we have an impressive line-up! Back by popular demand is The London Bulgarian Choir, a large scale Eastern European choir singing a wide repetoire of upbeat and feel good songs, the award winning, 16 strong contemporary pop act The Bristol Suspensions and the breathtaking Portsmouth Gospel Choir, finalists in Gareth Malone’s Pitch Battle on BBC. Also on the line up is Mide Naike of The Sons of Pitches fame, Tempus, a local Welsh dynamic vocal group and many more. Throughout

Join Span Arts & The Lab to celebrate the changing of the seasons at the River of Lights lantern procession on 31 October at 6.30pm. People from across the county will gather outside The Lab (old Ocky Whites building) Haverfordwest before walking in the candle-lit lantern procession, that last year saw over 1000 people taking part in.   A participant from last year’s procession described the event as ‘wonderous, magical, stunning and lovely!’ The event is becoming a must for everyone’s autumn calendar, our very own Rowan Matthiessen of Span Arts said, ‘the people of Pembrokeshire have really taken this event to their hearts. It’s delightful to see so many people getting involved in this spectacular event’.      This year the organisers are challenging the perception that when the shops shut and the sun goes down Haverfordwest becomes a ‘ghost town’; they’re unearthing the extraordinary stories from the past that lurk down each alleyway.   Time and time again Haverfordwest has been reinvigorated by ordinary people who care. Two such extraordinary, ordinary people will be joining the procession this year, carrying gifts from their own time to bestow on the present inhabitants of Pembrokeshire. The first is Joane Cheate

Busy bee workshops and a Queen Bee! The Cheerful Project brought the communities of Narberth, Clarbeston Road and Maenclochog together to create brilliant bee puppets, headdresses and flowers to contribute to Narberth Carnival. Three wonderful days of creativity and a buzzing good carnival! Excellent contributions from MIND Pembrokeshire and Pembrokeshire People First. Thank you to all who came along!     Photography by Jennie Caldwell and Di Ford

SpanJazz will kick off a summer of jazz with the world class tenor master Art Themen alongside The John Gibbon Trio on Thursday 30 June.   Art Themen, the saxophone-playing orthopaedic surgeon who has been an appealing presence on the British jazz circuit for over 40 years, hasn’t lost his appetite for the lateral. Originally a Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins stylist, Themen has proved himself remarkably attentive to the saxophone styles of subsequent generations. In July, SpanJazz will witness the dancing exuberance of South African Township music on Thursday 21 July with the Philip Clouts Quartet.   The convivial groove of gospel-influenced soul jazz, the joyful sway of Cuban guaguanco rhythms, the bluesy melodies of Middle Eastern praise songs and so much more all come together in pianist Philip Clouts’ superbly accomplished quartet.   ‘Clouts’ compositions are strong and likeable…a feeling of optimism pervading the tunes with a life force of its own’ (All About Jazz).   Finally, The Arcadian Collective will complete a summer of jazz on Thursday 11 August.   The Arcadian Collective is a creative 6 piece jazz-funk group conceived as a collective after years of collaborating, recording and gigging under various musical identities. The focus