Two world-class artists, Elvis Costello and Angelique Kidjo, join Patti Smith, Gruff Rhys, Passenger and Billy Bragg as headline music acts at this year’s Festival of Voice (7-17 June, across Cardiff). Elvis Costello & The Imposters will close this year’s 11-day festival at Wales Millennium Centre, with the skilled wordsmith and unique vocalist covering everything from politics to love songs. Beninese vocalist and activist, Angélique Kidjo, performs her latest project, a reinterpretation of the classic Talking Heads album ‘Remain in Light’. Well-known…

The Patient Experience Team at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board have organised group activity sessions at University Hospital Llandough aimed at bringing staff, patients and the local community together to help tackle loneliness and isolation in hospital. There are two activity groups which patients, staff and the local community are welcome to come join in with.  The knit and natter group takes place every Monday between 2pm-4pm in the Information and Support Centre at University Hospital Llandough.  All wool…

250 cinemas are hosting dedicated autism friendly cinema screenings this month right across the UK in partnership with Dimensions, a national not-for-profit support provider for people with learning disabilities and autism. These partnerships allow Dimensions to advise on adjustments for people with autism and sensory differences to enjoy watching films in an environment conducive to their needs and for parents to enjoy the trip knowing they are in an inclusive and welcoming environment. Adjustments include the lights left on low,…

A Cardiff mother whose husband and young son died tragically two years ago is bringing her ‘Fraser Bear’ to life through an animation that is to be screened in schools across Wales, encouraging families to talk about organ donation. Anna-Louise Bates set up the Believe: Organ Donation Support charity after her husband Stuart and seven-year-old son Fraser were fatally struck by a car in December 2015. She has been working with Mike Young, the Welshman and prolific animation producer behind…

New BBC schemes to improve opportunities for young people from diverse backgrounds to get sought after apprenticeships in the BBC and creative sector Two new initiatives are being launched to help young people from low income families compete for future apprenticeships at the BBC. The first programme, based in London and Salford, is a training course designed to level the playing field for 50 school students from socially diverse backgrounds. The programme, being developed with advice from social mobility charity The Sutton…

Patisserie Valerie opened their second store in Cardiff on Tuesday 13th February 2018. The popular cake shop and continental café, which is renowned for being a true haven of self-indulgence opened their new store on Queen Street, making this their second store in Cardiff and fourth in South Wales. This is therefore, the brand’s next step towards their expansion strategy of opening 20 new stores annually. Patisserie Valerie currently operates 155 stores across the UK and the Republic of Ireland,…

  I entered Llanover Hall Arts Centre on Saturday night with a level of uncertainty and, if I’m honest, a preconceived notion about the quality of student-art performances based entirely on my own awkward and cringe-worthy experiences. On this particular evening, Cardiff University’s Act One Drama Society had kindly invited me to review their performance of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. I have to admit that within a very short space of time my concerns had vanished and…

2018 marks Ffotogallery’s 40th anniversary, and as the national agency for photography and lens-based media in Wales, we celebrate reaching that milestone through a series of special exhibitions, projects and events. At Turner House in March, Ffotogallery presents Zeitgeist, featuring work by ten emerging artists from five continents, including Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017 winner César Dezfuli’s Passengers, striking portraits of migrants rescued from a rubber boat drifting in the Mediterranean Sea. Marta Mak’s Value explores how like alchemy…

Spencer Bartlett and Guinness World Record holder Dilys Price will join rugby legend Gareth Thomas to face the challenge of a lifetime Sport Relief is back with a series of epic challenges building up to the whole nation getting moving and beating a billion steps a day, every day, from 17th-23rd March. In Wales, rugby hero Gareth ‘Alfie’ Thomas is leading the charge by facing up to his biggest fear. He may be brave in every field of life –…

                          Wales’ Premier Theatre Event, attracting over 15,000 visitors has opened its box office. Now the largest theatre event of its kind in the U.K., Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival is offering 8 productions to satisfy the cultural appetites of the Capital City. Employing home-grown Welsh talent and fostering the future of theatre, the festival is proud to showcase directing talents of Cardiff’s own Richard Tunley (Royal Welsh…