This year is the biggest year for the Usk Festival so far, and we want to get everyone there. The Festival officially starts on the 27th June, but that’s not where the fun starts. On the 26th June, Usk Primary School is holding a cinema event showing Madagascar 3 at 3:30pm for just £1 which includes a raffle. Hot dogs, drinks, popcorn, tea and coffee will all be served. So why not go along to kick off this amazing festival with some laughter! If you have been able to recover from the belly laughs from the night before, Usk Festival is ready to throw another fab event at you on the 27th at 7pm.
School dinners, do you remember your favourite? Cwrt Bleddyn Hotel is holding an event called Festival Pudding Club which aims to resurrect all the old favourites from childhood and school dinners. All your childhood memories are sure to come flooding back to you once you taste the amazing puddings they have on offer. And this isn’t all they will be offering you, you will even have the chance to taste a few desserts you may have never tried, or heard of before and even some delicacies from around the world. It’s not often an event like this pops up and you never know what flavours you might discover. Although this event in particular is part of the Usk Festival, the Pudding Club holds meetings every month, with a selection of 7 desserts each meeting. So if you enjoy your first experience don’t worry, you’ll only have a month to wait to do it all over again.
Now that’s all for the first days of the festival. But from the 28th on-wards, the events start racking up and you really will be spoilt for choice. First up, Banshee is a 3 piece acoustic band from the Forest of Dean. They play popular acoustic song and dance music with a Celtic flavour. They utilize a variety of instruments including fiddle, guitars, Irish bouzouki, mandolin, flute, button accordion, double bass, banjo and much more. They are very well known and have played all over the UK and even in France. We are lucky enough to have the opportunity to see them at The Olway Inn on the 28th at 7:30pm. It will be a free night of entertainment and dancing, and even a full barbecue and salad bar available on the night just to top it all off!
On the 29th and 30th June, there is an Usk Open Gardens weekend. £7.50 for one day or £10 for both, raising money for charity. That’s a great price and it contributes to charity so everyone is a winner! The Usk Open Gardens is now in its 19th year, which is a real achievement and proves that this event is definitely a hit. Now here’s one for the chefs of the family. The Usk Bake off, there’s three categories; sweet, savoury and children’s category. Present your entries by 7pm, £1.00 entry and is open to public from 7.30 pm on July 1st. This is your chance to shine of you love to show off your cooking skills!
Jumping ahead now to the 3rd July, a night with Sophie Evans is an event in the spotlight of the Usk Festival. She is the star of BBC’s ‘Over the Rainbow’ and Andrew Lloyd Webber's ‘Wizard of Oz’ and she even stars in her own show in the Festival Big Top. The tickets are only £10 which is a great price for an event really worth attending. There is also a farmers market held on the 6th-7th, so grab yourself some fresh produce here!
As well as the individual events taking place, Usk Festival has a huge range of events happening every day. These include the New Court Real Ale and Cider Festival, Mad Hatters Tea Party at Number 49 and many more. There really is something for everyone at Usk Festival this year so make sure you’re part of it!
