Super Furry Animals topped the bill in 05'
Being the patriotic, beer swilling and music-loving so and so's that we are at Draig Personnel, we took great pleasure at the invitation this year to participate in a sponsorship deal of what has grown to become one of Europe's top world music events - "Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau."
As Draig Personnel is the first choice for hundreds of Mid and North Walian job seekers (in addition to the thousands of candidates we have assisted in the South Wales area), we thought it would be nice for the 30,000 or so visitors to the festival this year to see a prominent advert from ourselves in this year's festival programme.
Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau (the ‘mighty session’) was first held back in 1992 when a group of local volunteers, who were also traditional music freaks, felt that Dolgellau, a picturesque and historic town in south Gwynedd, needed a festival that would put Welsh music on the world stage. The festival started, like so many others, on a very small scale and on a very tight budget, but very soon the word started getting around about this great festival held in a quiet corner of Wales.
For the first 11 years Sesiwn Fawr was held on the streets of Dolgellau as a free festival that offered the best of World Music, but success brought its problems and, because of the masses that thronged the streets, the festival moved to a new site a hundred yards down the road. In 2002, for the first time, it became a ticketed event, now attracting an audience of 5,000 daily.
The festival has taken to its new home like a fish to water, prompting Simon Jones to describe the event in fROOTS magazine as:
"A blast of an event that unites community, Sesiwn Fawr is the place to make discoveries and reaffirm your faith in live music," The Festival was voted Welsh Event of the Year by the Welsh Tourist Board in 2001.
Since 1995 the festival has been broadcast live on BBC Radio Cymru and since 1997 it has been televised live on S4C’s digital channel. The festival also goes out live on Welsh language radio.
The list of bands who have appeared on the Sesiwn Fawr’s numerous stages include Super Furry Animals, Cerys Matthews, Burning Spear, The Alarm, The Levellers, Capercaillie, Oysterband, Susheela Raman, Dick Gaughan The Saw Doctors, Mozaik, Karine Polwart, Brendan Power and Shooglenifty. World music bands such as Yat Kha, Sharon Shannon, Jazz Jamaica and numerous Welsh language bands have also appeared. Pride and place on every line-up goes to our own Welsh bands. They have included over the years Anweledig, Meic Stevens, Bryn Fôn a Sobin!, Bob Delyn a’r Ebillion, Gwerinos, Frizbee, Ar Log, Meinir Gwilym, and Y Moniars.
The festival also prides itself for giving a stage to up and coming individual artists and groups.
The festival is now held on one of the most scenic sites in Wales, on a hard site in the beautiful Wnion valley with a backdrop of the beautiful slopes of Cader Idris and the granite solidity of Dolgellau’s historic buildings.
So if you would like tickets to what promises to be another fun-packed festival in what is a lovely part of the world, then buy your tickets on line or call the Ticket Hotline on 08712301314.
Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau takes place on Friday 18th July and Saturday 19th July 08', so maybe we'll see you there!