Mid Wales Gin Festival

Recently, I interviewed Laura Gallagher of Arvon Ale House all about a new and exciting event happening in the town of Llandrindod Wells very soon.

llandrindodlife: What is the event?

Laura Gallagher: The event we have planned is the first ever Mid Wales Gin Festival!

When and where is the Mid Wales Gin Festival being held? 

It is on Saturday 27th May 2017, at Pavilion Mid Wales in Llandrindod Wells. 
 

Who can attend? Where can the tickets be purchased?
 

Anyone over 18 can attend. The tickets cost £8 and can be purchased from Arvon Ale House, Temple Street, Llandrindod Wells or online from Eventbrite (online booking fee applies). If you want to be sure of your place at the event then buy in advance but this is a big venue so we hope that there will be some tickets available at the door. The ticket price also includes a complementary commemorative gin glass and a gin bottle.   

What will be happening at the event?
 

Well firstly there's the gins. We have sourced all the gins available from across Wales and the bordering counties. So a selection of 38 gins from 19 producers. There will be producers there too, to answer any questions you might have about gin.  And believe me they love talking about gin and how they make theirs.  

Then there’s the party!  We have made the theme Swing Time (1930’s, 1940’s).  There will be a 6-piece swing band called Donnie Joe’s American SwingBand, playing at both sessions.  MidWales Jive and Aber Swing are coming along and will be providing a free swing-dance workshop.  So lots of music from the swing era and lots of dancing.  

Snack plates will be available - all the things that people on Facebook told us went well with gin.

There will also be a full bar at the event serving hot drinks and a range of soft and alcoholic drinks.
 

What is the sell out feature of the event? Why will people want to attend?
 

Local and lovely gins!  Swing music and dancing! Beautiful costumes! Beautiful venue!
 

What's so special about gin? Why a gin festival?
 

All of these gins are artisan products, made in small batches and are not readily available.  Some of the gins have been specially made with the festival in mind.  At our festival they will all be available under one roof.  The producers use local botanicals picked from the surrounding area, even from their own farms and gardens!  Each gin is made in a slightly different way and this results in them being different from each other.  Each gin capturing the essence of where it is made and the passion of the people that make it.  We thought that deserved a celebration.

Will there be a particular dress code for the festival?
 

There isn’t a dress code; people can wear what they feel comfortable in.  However lots of people are dressing up to match the swing theme of the event.  So 1930’s/1940’s/swing style and there are prizes for best dressed.  So dress casual or smart, or dress like you’ve just walked out of a black and white movie!  Or somewhere in between - add a hat or just wear a feather in your hair!  It’s up to you.
 

How do you think the Mid Wales Gin Festival will benefit the community of Llandrindod Wells? 

We want to make sure that Llandrindod Wells is recognised for all the wonderful things that happen here.  We hope that bringing the gin revolution out of the cities and into our town will help with that.  Also we want to see the beautiful Pavilion building in full swing!   

Can you describe the event in three words?
 

Gin.  Swing-time. Party.

This sounds like a tremendous new exciting event that the community of Llandrindod Wells should feel very lucky to have a chance to be a part of. So get yourself down to Pavilion Mid Wales on 27th May to see for yourself what the Mid Wales Gin Festival is all about; just another shining example of just one of the brilliant events happening here in #llandrindodlife!

With thanks to Laura Gallagher for her time and the pictures included in this blog post.

"What was the highlight of 2016 for Llandrindod Wells?"

Many businesses are at the heart of the Llandrindod Wells community and so it's important to understand their opinion on the town. 

I recently asked some of the towns' business owners what they think the highlight of 2016 was for Llandrindod Wells. 

Junk n Disorderly: "2016 was a great year for Llandrindod Wells simply because of the good, positive vibes around the town. There were a number of new business and new ideas that came about in 2016 and they've done wonders for the community atmosphere."

Junk n Disorderly

J&M's Emporium: "The Christmas #latenightllandod was a real highlight for us. It was great to see everyone and all the business owners come together to create something special for the community!"

Jude Boutle, Llandrindod Town Champion: "What really pleased me about 2016 was the obvious change in attitude of the townsfolk. I ended the year feeling pleased and encouraged that people have started to really work together to make Llandrindod Wells an even better place."

Van's Good Food Shop: "The Radnor Fringe Festival was a really exciting event for the town with a variety of things happening. Also the Refugee Concert was great as it attracted lots of different people from within the community."

KDM Local Newsagents, Stationers, Game Store: "2016 was a great year for the town. In my opinion, it saw the rebirth of 'community' in a lot of ways. From lots of smaller groups of people joining together, to townsfolk getting behind larger events like the 2day trials, the Christmas Fayre and the Late Night Opening. One of the highlights for me has be the rise and continued growth of Llandrindod Pomarium Community Orchard, this has been truly joyous. My boys love it there. The bees, the flowers and the fruit growing and being shared and the outdoor events they are hosting. Definitely the highlight of 2016 for me!"

Radnor Travel Service Ltd: "The real highlight was how the businesses and community started to come together; especially at the Late Night Opening events. It was the best positive spirit I have known in the town during my 18 years of trading! I also loved the Xmas decorations and how people of Llandrindod were proud of living here. Although I live 20 miles away, I am so proud of working in Llandrindod and therefore love showing it off through my photography."

One of Laura's lovely photographs

Arvon Ales: "One highlight has got to be the brilliant Radnor Fringe Festival - seeing people of all ages smiling and enjoying the entertainment. Another highlight was an evening with Sam Lee at Rock Park (organised by the Radnor Fringe). This was a truly magical night sitting on straw bales and ending with an evening walk home and seeing the park being lit up with glow worms. I also loved how the town traders came together to bring the Late Night Opening at Christmas."

Radnor Fringe Festival - a real family friendly community event

Happy Home Gift Company: "2016 was a fantastic year for the town and working together with the other traders to bring forward events like the #latenightllandod was a real highlight. I also loved the positivity within the town and hearing so many positive comments. For example during the late night Christmas opening, loads of people in the community commented how lovely the town was with all the Christmas lighting and the real friendly community atmosphere. It's nice for people to look at Llandrindod now and see a town that has a thriving community and isn't looked down upon. We can only continue to build from here so we must look forward to what the exciting future may bring!"

Happy Home Gift Company

Of course there are always those with negative voices but we can all work together as a strong community to eradicate this opinion and prove to these people that the old Victorian Spa town of Llandrindod Wells can be a successful town in the 21st Century! 

Now as 2017 has well and truly begun; I hope we can all look forward to another successful year for Llandrindod Wells. 

Don't forget, you can visit the 'vision' tab at the top left of the page to discover more about this llandrindodlife initiative. If you'd like to get in contact with any ideas/suggestions etc. then I would love to hear from you! Just use the contact box to the side of this post.

EXCITING THINGS ARE ON THE WAY (Part 2)

Hello again Llandrindod people!

I hope you enjoyed part 1. Here's part 2 of my blog posts explaining all the exciting things that are going to be happening with this llandrindodlife initiative. 

 

llandrindodlife children's running group

Most of you reading this will know I'm an international runner, having run for Wales and Great Britain. I still have many many hopes and dreams of what I want to achieve in the sport but I would not have got where I am today if it wasn't for the town of Llandrindod Wells and the people within the community who have helped me along my journey. 

I believe now it is time to start giving back to the town. Time to start giving back to the sport and to help to inspire others to become involved in running.

I will be starting a running group for the children of Llandrindod Wells and the surrounding area. I want to help children discover their love for running like I did when I was younger. 

The sessions will be open for children age eight and over and will run every Wednesday evening 4pm-5pm meeting at the lake on the grass behind the cafe. The first session will begin on 27th July. There's no need to book, just turn up. 

The sessions will cost £2 per child and will include a range of fun games, relays, lots of running and a chance for children to build friendships whilst having fun. 

I hope children will come along to have fun and be inspired no matter what their ability. 

Look out for posters around the town. I am looking forward to helping more children in Llandrindod Wells become involved with running. 

 

llandrindodlife social runs, training sessions, workshops etc...   

 

This one is more for the adults of the town but children are welcome along too. (Providing they are accompanied and supervised at all times by an adult) I know there are lots of runners in the community and it's great to see local club runners out training. I would love to share my knowledge of running and experience in the sport with the community. 

I am going to be doing this through one off training sessions, social runs, some specific work shops and lots more exciting things. Everyone and anyone will be welcome and I look forward to helping to get even more of the community running. 

Some of these runs and sessions will be entirely free, however donations towards my running career will be gratefully accepted. (Look out for the yellow donation box!) Others will be formally structured and will carry a small charge. 

To kick this all off, there will be a llandrindodlife social run on Saturday 6th August which will be approximately 7/8 miles. 

Meet at the Bandstand on Temple Gardens for a 3pm start. 

The route will be both on road and off road so I advise some sort of trail shoe. There will be uphills, there will be downhills and there may even be some mud too!

The aim is that we all have fun running in the stunning natural area around the town. It is not a race; there is no competition. Everyone will be there to enjoy themselves, meet new people and socialise. I hope as many people as possible will join me and I look forward to running with you all. 

Look out for more information about events like this around the town and on social media in the near future! I have lots of ideas planned and can not wait to get started!

llandrindodlife Facebook page  

 

So seeing as all this is kicking off rather nicely, I thought it was about time I made a Facebook page to help promote the blogs, to help notify people of the next running session, event, workshop etc. and also to help promote other events in the town. 

If you could go and give this page a 'like', thumbs up or whatever you want to call it, that would be great.

The llandrindodlife social runs, workshops, training sessions etc will be created as an event on this page so keep your eyes peeled. I will also blog about each event and there will be posters around the town to help get the message out there. 

If you are organising an event within the town, please do let me know about it as I will help with the promotion on this blog, on the Facebook page and also on Twitter. 

If you're a local business, shop, service etc and would like to be featured on the blog, please get in contact! You can read the previous blog post for more details. 

That's all for now. I hope you're all as excited as I am about these developments and I'm looking forward to meeting the community for these events!

If you have any questions, queries or ideas please do not hesitate to get in contact with me. 

Llandrindod Wells – the future of the town is in our hands, I look forward to working with all of you in the local community to enhance #llandrindodlife