Caernarfon Arts Festival 2024 sets out future vision

Caernarfon Arts Festival 2024 sets out its future vision. This is the launch of a trailblazer festival celebrating the best of Wales’s visual arts. It will also reveal the longer-term ambitions to create an event to emulate the well-established and internationally-recognised Hay Literature Festival.

Inaugural Caernarfon Art Festival 2024

The inaugural Caernarfon Art Festival 2024 is scheduled to take place over the weekend of June 22-23^rd June at venues around town. Organisers are confident it will pave the way for a larger annual event to showcase the work of both artists working in Wales and those with a strong connection to Wales.

A full programme

The Art Festival will include a programme of demonstrations, exhibitions and discussions centred on the main venue, Market Hall on Stryd y Palas. They will explore the contemporary art scene across Wales. And they will provide a rare opportunity to gain insights from some of the country’s most highly-regarded artists and arts influencers.

The original idea

Caernarfon Art Festival 2024 is the brainchild of Sara McKee FRSA. The founder of lead partner, Life Full Colour Art Gallery. She has drawn together support to create a programme which, she believes, will offer “something for everyone”.

“When we first started discussing the idea we knew we had to strike the right balance – offering accessibility for the more casual visitor while creating some valuable debate around the role of arts for those who want to take a deeper dive,” she said.

“Over two days, the festival will be accessible, inclusive and fun. If you want to come and dip into the arts scene while enjoying Caernarfon’s beautiful backdrop and excellent restaurants that’s great. Equally, if you want to invest more time in the programme we can promise you a very rewarding weekend. We have big aspirations to create an event in Caernarfon that does for the visual arts and Wales what Hay does for literature.”

Highlights

Among the highlights is a panel discussion on the State of the Arts in Wales with renowned artists, Eisteddfod Gold Medal Winner and Venice Biennale Wales representative, Bedwyr Williams; and member of the Royal Cambrian Academy, Eisteddfod Gold Medal, and Hunting Prize winner, Shani Rhys James MBE.

Sara McKee will also interview internationally-recognised artist and former guest tutor to The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, Gethin Evans, together with a visiting artist from The School, about working internationally and the benefits of collaboration.

McKee thinks Caernarfon Art Festival 2024 is an opportunity to recognise the contribution of the arts not only in Wales but also internationally.

“The impact on the arts both inside and outside Wales is often underestimated yet there is a fine tradition of artists with Welsh antecedents and connections working across the globe,” she said.

Celebrating strong connections

To celebrate the connections between Life: Full Colour and The New York Studio School of Art, a new scholarship programme is being explored. This will enable an emerging Welsh artist to participate in a two week drawing marathon in Manhattan at the school from 2025. In return, an alumni of NYSS will be invited to Caernarfon.

Official bookstore, Palas Print will host a talk with a recently published art historian.

Plus an exhibition of the works of final year art students from Coleg Menai will be displayed alongside those of established Welsh artists at the main venue – showcasing new talent.

Caernarfon Art Festival 2024 is supported by Gwynedd Council, The RCA Conwy and The RSA Cymru. For more information and to get involved contact Sara via hello@lifefullcolour.com or visit our website