Many hundreds attended the annual Raglan Music Festival, which took place over the course of the weekend. People from all over the county flocked to the village for the three-day event, which was held at Raglan VC Primary School, Raglan Country Estate, Raglan Baptist Chapel and St Cadoc’s Church and included performances from a host of fantastic local acts and bands as well as pupils from both Raglan VC Primary school and Monmouth Comprehensive School.
The festival launched on Friday with an afternoon of musical entertainment at Raglan Primary School’s annual concert including a wonderful rendition of Calon Lân by the School choir. Promoting and nurturing young talent is at the core of the Raglan Festival’s team mission, so this year £600 was donated to the school toward the school orchestra and a further £500 towards general music tuition for the benefit of a wide range of school pupils. This was followed by a fantastic evening at Raglan Country Estate on Friday night with piano vocalist and resident entertainer at the Celtic Manor, Richard Harris, performing an amazing set of soul, Motown and pop classics with support from Raglan’s Pennie Rae and her cool jazz set.
A very sunny Saturday saw Rocky, the Festival mascot, bravely support Raglan First Scout’s fundraising campaign for their trip to Italy in August by abseiling down the tower of St Cadoc’s Church. Thanks to Festival friend, Lloyd Jones, Saturday also saw an evening of traditional Welsh hymn singing at the Gymanafa Ganu held at the Baptist Chapel followed by an awesome performance by Talgarth Male Voice Choir at St. Cadoc’s church supported by solo renditions by soprano Catherine Hughes and baritone Maelgwyn Watkins with lovely hand-bell music from local Raglan’s Millennium Chimes.
The main highlight of the weekend was the Festival’s street party held on the High Street on Sunday afternoon with many hundreds of people listening to the Tenovus Choir, international vocalist Kirsten Orsborn, the Brothers of Blues and Echo Bandits playing fantastic sets despite the grey skies and spots of rain, whilst children had fun in the Kids Zone with Junkfish craft. One of the UK’s leading tribute bands, the Stereotonics, headlined the festival street party with a fab energetic set of the Welsh band’s iconic tunes getting everyone up and dancing!
Festival Committee Chair Col Knight said, “It was another amazing weekend here in the village, with so much local talent on display, ranging from the very youngest in the school, right through to our senior friends who are so gifted. It was fantastic to see everyone out on the High Street in Raglan for our Street Party enjoying themselves in with great music and a real sense of community spirit.”
The Festival Committee thank everyone involved for their support over the weekend, whether it was local businesses that sponsored the event, with special thanks to Hockeys as headline sponsor, volunteers who stewarded the concerts, and to the people who attended the events, as without this support, the Festival would not be sustainable. Col Knight says, “Having seen the Music Weekend as a great success, we now look forward planning to planning Raglan Day, in August, which will generate more community fun in the village once again.” Raglan Day will take place on Monday 28th August and will include a carnival parade, dog show, stalls for local producers and businesses as well as lots of fun for children and adults alike! Visit the website www.raglan-festival.com and Facebook for more Raglan Day news