THE highlight of the town’s year is the Llandrindod Wells Victorian Festival, which will celebrate its 37th continuous festival in 2018. With free music concerts, exhibitions, costume parades, balls, evening performances, organ grinders, competitions and a magnificent torchlight procession and firework display on the final night, there is truly something for everyone.
Over the years the Victorian Festival has, due to the economy, changed dramatically and we need your support to continue, especially in 2019, which is the bicentenary of the birth of Queen Victoria, so please come and support us.
Llandrindod Wells is the perfect venue with its amazing, Victorian architecture, to host the Victorian Festival; it’s not just the festival itself but also the opportunity to visit the amazing Cycle Museum, Radnorshire Museum, Llandrindod Wells Lake and the fantastic Rock Park plus culinary delights in many of our local hostelries and on the Gardens.
Queen Victoria will arrive in Llandrindod Wells in the royal train at 11.30am on Monday, August 20, after meeting the town and area dignitaries she will proceed to the bandstand on Temple Garden for the official opening of the festival.
We hope that Temple Gardens will be buzzing for the seven days, from children’s fancy dress and adult costume competitions, not to miss the early morning perambulations by our ‘Friends of the Festival’ in authentic Victorian costumes.
There will be a large funfair to keep all ages engrossed, occasional music on the bandstand, a large number of stalls including ‘Ridiculously Rich by Alana’ winner of the 2016 ‘The Apprentice’. Happenings at Holy Trinity Church, the Vintage Cycle Cavalcade, U3A Singers under the canopy at Rock Park, the Suffragette Demonstration, St John Cymru celebrating their centenary with an original Bull Nose Morris Ambulance and so much more for your enjoyment.
For car lovers the Llandrindod Wells Town Council will be organising a great vintage car rally.
In the evening we have a surfeit of entertainment at both the Pavilion and Metropole and Commodore Hotels from Hoi Polloi through ‘The Oscars’ to Queen Victoria meets Bob Marley at our Caribbean Night with the best Steel Pan band in the UK.
A special treat is the great great grandson of Charles Dickens, Gerald Dickens, with his adaption of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ specially penned for the Victorian Festival where it will have its world premiere at the towns beloved Pavilion, plus at the Metropole Alison Neil performing ‘Truly Yours’ Charlotte Bronte.
On the final night we have our usual Firework Display, sponsored this year by the Llandrindod Wells Town Council, with our usual and largest torch procession in Wales; led by the Swansea Pipe Band, this is an extravaganza free to all, so please help us by donating generously during the evening and trying to fill up our collection buckets to help meet the costs of next years festival.
Relax, enjoy yourselves and live the ‘Victorian life’ in the Victorian capital of mid Wales, Llandrindod Wells for a full seven days.