Welcome to the Gower Festival

We look forward to welcoming you to great concerts in a wonderful environment.

For over 40 years the Gower Festival has brought music and art of the highest quality to this area of southwest Wales. Now, as well as our traditional Summer fortnight held in our ancient, atmospheric Gower churches, we also present Spring and Autumn entertainments. These include ‘big band’ and jazz with poetry evenings where food and drink are served in a relaxed setting. As always, we present internationally acclaimed artists, while we keep the ticket prices spectacularly low by attracting generous sponsorship.

As you navigate the web site, clicking photographs will reveal further information.

The 2024 Gower Festival was a brilliant success!

It is difficult to highlight a few concerts, as we heard such wonderful performances of the highest artistic quality.

We reached a larger audience than ever before, had record ticket sales and increased the number of young people attending the festival.

I do want to thank our committee who have worked tirelessly to produce a seamless event and our sponsors without whom it would not take place.

We look forward to 2025 with great anticipation.

Gordon Back

Artistic Director

gordon back

Artistic Director

Next year’s festival will be held from
1-12 July.

International acclaimed performers will include...

Leon McCawley

Fiddlesticks Ensemble

Jane Austen 250

Joe Dunthorne

Lumas Wind Quintet

Heath Quartet

An evening with Martyn Brabbins

Comedy Genius of Rainer Hersch

2025 FESTIVAL DETAILS BELOW

We are honoured to have Sir Karl Jenkins as our President. Brought up in Penclawdd and educated at Gowerton Grammar School, he is one of the most frequently performed living composers.

“It is a privilege for me, as President, to be able to welcome you to the Gower Festival, my ‘local’ festival, having been raised on the beautiful Gower Peninsula. There is an exciting programme for you to enjoy, with concerts in the historic churches of Gower.”

Sir Karl Jenkins CBE

President

Sir Karl Jenkins CBE

President

Llŷr is an internationally recognised concert pianist. He has been the recipient of many awards and is the official accompanist to the Cardiff Singer of the World. He has delighted Gower Festival audiences with his sensitive, meticulously performed recitals.

“The Gower Festival represents the best of the British summer festival tradition, great music for friendly and appreciative audiences in the most beautiful surroundings. I always look forward to returning with much anticipation.”

Llŷr Williams

Patron

Llŷr Williams

Patron

Catrin is an internationally renowned harpist. In 2000 she was appointed for a term as Royal Harpist to Charles, Prince of Wales. She has developed an eclectic approach to the instrument with her recent international collaborations.

“Performing at the Gower Festival on many occasions has always been a special experience for me. I am therefore thrilled to be invited to be a Patron of this outstanding Festival.”

Catrin Finch

Patron

Catrin Finch

Patron

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Supporting the Gower Festival

We are very grateful to those who support us financially through sponsorship. If you would like to help the Gower Festival for the long term, there are two ways:

Concert Sponsors. The concert sponsorship of £500 allows us to book internationally acclaimed performers for concerts in the intimate atmosphere of Gower churches. Concert sponsors are individually acknowledged in the programme book in association with their sponsored concert.

Festival Sponsors donate at least £100, preferably by Standing Order, to help with the overall costs of running the Festival. They are acknowledged in the programme book.

If you would like to consider becoming a Sponsor please contact Bill Anderson at billanderson191@outlook.com

Finally, have you thought of leaving a legacy to The Gower Festival in your Will?

29-07-24

2025 Provisional programme

Praised for his unfailingly communicative playing, British pianist Leon McCawley has been delighting audiences worldwide since winning, in 1993, First Prize in the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and Second Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition.

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Tuesday 1 July 7.30pm

Photo © Anna Paik

Leon McCawley, piano

Tuesday 1 July 7.30pm

St Paul’s Church, Sketty
SA2 9AR

Fiddlesticks comprises leading Baroque players from across the early music scene, centred round three violin soloists Huw Daniel, Kati Debretzeni and Debbie Diamond, supported by core continuo team cellist Kinga Gáborjáni and harpsichordist Steven Devine.

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Wednesday 2 July 7.30pm

Fiddlesticks Ensemble

Wednesday 2 July 7.30pm

St Cenydd’s Church, Llangennith
SA3 1HU

Actress Alex Kingston, soprano Claire Booth and pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen explore the life and work of Jane Austen, born 250 years ago. Drama and comedy alternate with some of Jane’s favourite songs – by Mozart, Schubert, Handel and others.

Thursday 3 July 7.30pm

Jane Austen 250

Thursday 3 July 7.30pm

St Paul’s Church, Sketty
SA2 9AR

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Swansea-born Joe Dunthorne is a novelist and poet. His debut novel Submarine was made into a film, and his second book, Wild Abandon, won the Royal Society of Literature Encore Award. His dramatic portrait of Swansea, written for the 70th anniversary of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, was broadcast in 2024.

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Friday 4 July 7.30pm

Photo © Tom Medwell

Joe Dunthorne

Friday 4 July 7.30pm

St Cattwg’s Church, Port Eynon
SA3 1NL

Mumbles A Cappella is a Swansea based community youth vocal ensemble with a repertoire that knows no boundaries. Come and enjoy their songs – you'll be entertained and surprised!

Saturday 5 July 1.00pm

MUMBLES A CAPPELLA
YOUTH CHOIR

Saturday 5 July 1.00pm

St Peter’s Church, Newton
SA3 4RB

Rainer Hersch is a comedian and musician who has performed on every major comedy stage in Britain and abroad. He has appeared thirteen times at the Edinburgh Festival, had numerous comedy-concert series at the South Bank in London, featured in comedy clubs all across Europe and in TV shows around the world.

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Saturday 5 July 7.30pm

Comedy Genius of
‍RAINER HERSCH

Saturday 5 July 7.30pm

Reynoldston Village Hall
SA3 1AA

Swansea Bach Choir are old friends of the Gower Festival. Founded by John Hugh Thomas in 1965 and now directed by Greg Hallam, they will celebrate their 60th birthday by performing two masterpieces for unaccompanied voices: Vaughan Williams’s Mass in G minor and the Mass for Double Choir by Swiss composer Frank Martin.

Sunday 6 July 6pm

swansea bach choir
60^th anniversary

Sunday 6 July 6pm

Capel y Crwys, Three Crosses
SA4 3PU

Lumas Winds is a dynamic chamber ensemble based in London. Winners of the 71st Royal Over-Seas League Mixed Ensemble Prize in 2023, Lumas are committed ambassadors for wind chamber music and the rich variety of repertoire that it offers.

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Tuesday 8 July 7.30pm

Lumas Wind Quintet

Tuesday 8 July 7.30pm

GOWERTON SCHOOL, CECIL ROAD, GOWERTON SA4 3DL

Ever since winning the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artists Award in 2013,
the Heath String Quartet has been admired as one of Britain’s most versatile groups. In 2012 they won the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where they are now regular visitors. We welcome them back to Gower.

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Wednesday 9 July 2.30pm

The Heath Quartet

Wednesday 9 July 2.30pm

St Mary’s Church, Rhossili
SA3 1PL

Andy Davies is an award-winning Welsh trumpeter, comedian, script writer, voice over artist, actor and educator. He has hosted the famous Wednesday night Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Jam Session for over thirteen years. ‘More fun than a barrel of monkeys’ (Evening Standard), he will perform with the Dave Cottle Trio.

Wednesday 9 July 8pm

JAZZ WITH ANDY DAVIES
‍AND THE DAVE COTTLE TRIO

Wednesday 9 July 8pm

CU MUMBLES, 7 CASTLETON WALK ARCADE, NEWTON ROAD, MUMBLES
SA3 4AX

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Thursday 10 July 7.30pm

The Heath Quartet

Thursday 10 July 7.30pm

St Rhidian & St Illtyd’s Church, Llanrhidian
SA3 1ER

Martyn Brabbins was recently appointed Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony, starting in the 2025/26 season. He was music director of the English National Opera 2016-2023. He conducted two concerts at the 2024 Proms, one taking over at short notice after the death of Sir Andrew Davies. He is a Friend of the Gower Festival.

This evening Martyn will be in conversation with Gordon Back, talking about his life and recordings.

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Friday 11 July 7.30pm

An evening with
Martyn Brabbins

Friday 11 July 7.30pm

Vestry, Capel y Crwys, Three Crosses
SA4 3PU

Born in the Czech Republic and trained in Germany, Robert Bily was first prize-winner at the 2024 Vendome piano competition in New York. He was described by Vendome’s Artistic Director as ‘one of our strongest winners ever’.

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Saturday 12 July 7.30pm

Robert Bily
Ist Prizewinner Vendome 2024

Saturday 12 July 7.30pm

St Peter’s Church, Newton
SA3 4RB

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Festival Friends have priority booking two weeks before tickets go on sale to the general public. Booking dates to be announced.

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St Paul’s Church,
Sketty SA2 9AR

St Paul’s church was built by the great industrialist John Henry Vivian (1785-1855) of Singleton Abbey, as a memorial chapel
for his daughter-in-law, Jessie, who had died aged 22 in 1848. The Bishop of St Davids consecrated the building in 1850 as a ‘Chapel of Ease’ to St Mary’s Swansea. The architect was Henry Woodyer, a disciple of Pugin, and the design included Geometrical, Perpendicular and Decorated features. In 1851, however, to accommodate Sketty’s expanding population and the growing popularity of the Nonconformists, the chapel became an autonomous parish, separate from St Mary’s. During the next 100 years the church has been enlarged and enriched in response to practical need, changing fashions and the will of generous benefactors. Besides the Vivians, these have included the Glassbrooks of a coal and timber dynasty, and the Dillwyns.

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St Cenydd’s Church,
Llangennith SA3 1HU

The original c6th church settlement in a llan is thought to have been founded by Cenydd/Kyned/Kennith, who was also associated with a hermitage on Burry Holms. In 986 these were destroyed by Viking raiders. Early c12th Normans built a small priory cell, and then the Early-English style church, dedicated to St Cenydd, on the original site. Today this is Gower’s largest church. Initially linked to a Benedictine Priory in Normandy, from 1441 to 1838 the church was the property of All Soul’s College, Oxford. Hence College House nearby.
The ancient and important building has seen many changes in windows, doorways, stairways which can still be traced but major restoration took place from 1882 - 84 since the church was in such a ‘ruinous state’. This included raising the floor by four feet which made the tops of old cloister doorways the alcoves in the south wall.

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St Cattwg’s Church,
Port Eynon SA3 1NL

Port Eynon Church is dedicated to St Cattwg of Llancarfarn and is thought to have been founded in the C6th, by his missionary to Gower, St Cennydd. The present church dates from the C12th and the south doorway, in spite of changes through the centuries, has retained its original Norman form. The church was restored and enlarged in 1861, and there was further work in 1901, to accommodate the growing population and activities of this busy coastal village. The North transept became the ‘Schoolroom‘ but a recent project has seen a kitchen added, as well as comfortable seating for a meeting area and every Saturday morning it becomes the very popular ‘Caffi Cattwg’. The white marble statue in the churchyard is a memorial to three local men who were drowned and also a thanksgiving for the ten survivors in the 1916 ‘Janet’ lifeboat disaster.

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St Peter’s Church,
Newton SA3 4RB

St. Peter’s is said to be named after the c11th ruins of St Peter’s Well and monastic chapel in nearby Caswell Valley. Consecrated in 1903, as part of the parish of Oystermouth, it reflects the increasing population and wealth of late C19th Swansea as it spread on the edge of Gower. The church design in the decorated Gothic style was described as ‘ambitious’ although insufficient funds denied the building of a 90ft tower at the south east corner and the early building was thought to be plain. The church is constructed of greenish sandstone from Bridgend, with Bath stone carvings, particularly intricate inside. The interior has a richly appointed chancel. Today much of the beauty and warmth of the building lies in the works of art, given as memorials of/by people whose lives were woven into the fabric of the church and history of the area.

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Reynoldston Village Hall SA3 1AA

The original Hall in Reynoldston was a vestry hall built in 1887 by the church. It was called the Institute – a place to be used for meetings, Sunday School and as a Reading Room. Gradually less serious activities took place – concerts, inter- village draughts matches and fund raising events. In 1923 this was replaced by the present building, called the Church Hall and which, because of its central location, became the focus for organisations and entertainment not only locally but from all quarters of Gower. The building was purchased by the village from the Church in Wales in 1994 since which time, major improvements have been made to the building and its facilities. The Hall plays a key role in community life with over 8000 people annually attending societies, activities and events.

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Capel y Crwys,
Three Crosses SA4 3PU

Capel y Crwys is the largest chapel in Gower and, like each of the churches, is a Grade II listed building. c17th early Nonconformism in the peninsula survived by secret meetings in scattered farms and, among several groups in the Three Crosses area, it was at Cwm Mawr Farm that the first meeting room was built soon after the Toleration Act was passed in 1689. By 1788 it was decided to build the first Independent chapel on Gower next to the current site. In 1831 there was a rebuild but fifty years later even this could not meet the needs of the dramatic rise in population (both Welsh and English) following the opening of many small coal mines in the area. In 1886 it was decided to erect a new building to the design of John Humphrey, architect of Morriston Tabernacle, known as ‘the Cathedral of Welsh Nonconformity’. Further changes were made in 1912 with the addition of a new pulpit and organ as well as a large vestry for the many chapel and village activities.

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GOWERTON SCHOOL, CECIL ROAD,
GOWERTON SA4 3DL

The present Gowerton School has long established roots in the local community. The 1889 Welsh Intermediate School Act set up ‘intermediate schools’ between the primary level and the new University of Wales. In 1896 it was decided to locate such a school in Gowerton where bilingual industria Llwchwr met anglicised rural Gower By the late 1930’s, Gowerton Intermediate School on Talbot Street was so successful and crowded that it was decided to move the girls to a new site. One of the first pupils found the handsome, spacious building “awe-inspiring”. Later renamed Grammar Schools, the two schools continued until 1973 when they combined to become today’s comprehensive Gowerton School on the Cecil Rd site. In 1984 the Talbot Street school became the newly established welsh language medium Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr. Both schools have flourished under inspired leadership and an outstanding ethos, building on the rich past and each establishing its own high reputation in Wales, academic and pastoral, not forgetting music and sport!

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St Hilary’s Church,
Killay SA2 7DZ

St Hilary’s is the most recently built local church and was consecrated in 1926. Today it is difficult to imagine the rural setting of late c19th Killay – farms and woods laced by poor tracks leading to Sketty or Dunvant or Gower. However the Clyne valley coal mining and especially the railway line led to rapid population growth and after World War I plans began for a new church, designed by Glendinning Moxham, to serve the new housing. As well as some generous benefactors, many small donations as well as physical labour came from members of the church. But the effects locally of the General Strike had reduced the money available and the church, never completed as originally intended, (shorter by one bay), began with a debt of more than £3,000. The simple building of red brick, with black mortar mixed in the Clyne valley, holds a number of attractive features.

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St Cadoc’s Church,
Cheriton SA3 1BY

Cheriton Church is dedicated to St Cadoc, who founded Llancarfan monastery and was one of the chief figures in the early Celtic Church. The building is of the late C13th and early C14th, built after Llandimore church was abandoned owing to sea encroachment. The structure introduced a totally new concept of church architecture to the area with a nave, choir and chancel plus a large tower and the church earned the name of the ’Cathedral of Gower’. The tower has a saddleback roof and below the parapet are numerous holes which could have supported beams to form a fighting platform in case of attack. This was a common occurrence when the Burry estuary was a busy shipping channel to the numerous small ports on the north shore of Gower. In the churchyard lies buried Ernest Jones, Freud’s biographer and well known pioneer of early psychoanalysis, who was born in Gowerton but had a holiday home nearby.

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St David’s Church,
Llanddewi SA3 1AU

Llanddewi Church is situated on the Gower Way, which opened in 1998 and runs for 35 miles following ancient route ways from the sea at Rhossili in the west to the hills 20 miles north of Swansea - the northern limit of the Norman Lordship of Gower. South West Gower parish usually holds its Harvest Festival Service in the small church, always decorated for this annual event with the riches of the surrounding fields. A C12 window suggests some Norman origin but today’s church in the Early English and Decorated style dates from the C14 and is reputed to have been built and dedicated to St David by Henry de Gower who was Bishop of St David’s from 1328 to 1347. Opposite the church at that time stood an episcopal residence where he is said to have stayed when he included Gower in the visitations around his vast diocese, the largest of the four in Wales at that time. This was possibly on or near the site of the original Llandewi Castle and the home of his ancestors, the Mansells, who became important landowners in Gower after the Norman Conquest. It was the same Henry de Gower who built the very impressive Bishop’s Palace, alongside the Cathedral at St David’s in Pembrokeshire.

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Avalon Suite, King Arthur Hotel,
Reynoldston SA3 1AD

The Norman settlement of Reynoldston has always been an important meeting point in the centre of the peninsula, and the open land of the Higher Green an ideal location for a public house. The first known in the early c19th was called The Rising Sun because the front of the building caught the early morning sun; this was a single storey thatched-roof cottage. Its remains can be seen today in the accommodation block between the hotel and the car park. The King Arthur is thought to have been built in the 1870’s but the present appearance dates from the 1920’s when it was much enlarged. In 1991 there was a complete refurbishment by the present owners and the Avalon Suite created. Since its early days it has always been a popular venue for weddings, receptions, ploughing matches and harvest suppers etc. and it benefitted from events on the Higher Green from the annual September Fair to visiting circuses and to the Fatstock Shows which just over 100 years ago lead to the creation of the popular Gower Show before it moved to today’s location in Penrice Park.

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Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Alexandra Road, Swansea SA1 5DZ

The creation of the Glynn Vivian Gallery was made possible in 1905 when Richard Glynn Vivian offered Swansea his eclectic international collection of paintings, prints and books, plus much fine Swansea china and porcelain. His gift was accompanied by £10,000 to build a gallery. He laid the Foundation stone in 1909 but died before the opening in 1911. The building was designed by Swansea architect Glendenning Moxham in the ‘Edwardian Baroque’ style. In 1909 the unfinished Gallery and the School of Art opposite were put under the direction of Grant Murray. The local area’s positive attitude to the arts, in spite of the 1920’s and 30’s serious economic recession, owed much to his commitment. The Gallery became the focus of the town’s artistic activity - championing local Art groups and especially well-known local artists. The Gallery re-opened in 2016 after a £multi-million project to improve facilities and widen access.

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St Illtyd’s Church,
Ilston SA2 7LD

The church derives from a c6th monastic cell, associated with St Illtyd. Although a chapel is mentioned in a Papal letter in 1119, much of the present building dates from the early c13th when the massive embattled tower was built, by John le Breos who had been granted the Lordship of Gower. The nave was added in late mediaeval times and is markedly out-of-line with the earlier structure. Major restoration took place in 1847. In 1649, John Miles was installed as Rector but after the Restoration he was ejected and moved a mile down the Ilston valley where he had built the first Baptist Church in Wales. When dissenting assemblies became illegal in 1663 he left with his followers and established the settlement of Swanzey in New England, USA. Francis Kilvert, the celebrated diarist, visited Ilston’s Rector several times in the late c19th and wrote warmly of his happy days in Gower.

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ST MARY’S CHURCH,
PENNARD SA3 2EA

Pennard, in one of the best farming areas in Gower, long attractive to settlement, has seen several churches. The original is thought to have been dedicated to St Cenydd. In the C13th a church was built near Pennard Castle, but soon afterwards a great sand inundation created the Pennard Burrows. By the C16th this was finally abandoned and the present church of St Mary’s became the parish church on the site of an existing chantry or private chapel or even one of Gower’s mediaeval ‘lost’ churches. Numerous original features from this site plus parts of the Burrows church were incorporated into the new structure. All Souls, Oxford was the patron until 1838 when the title was transferred to Thomas Penrice of Kilvrough Manor who began some restoration after centuries of neglect. The embattled west tower is smaller than that in other local churches but recent restoration of white limewash to the whole building has made it a striking Gower landmark.

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The Story of the Gower Festival

From its early years the Gower Festival has been concerned to foster a wide range of music in idyllic settings...

READ OUR HISTORY OVER THE PAST
40 YEARS

Friends of the Gower Festival

We have some wonderful concerts and other events arranged for Gower Festival 2025.
Festival Friends have priority booking for the events in July.

Benefits of becoming a Friend

➢ Advance booking for July concerts. This benefit is much appreciated by Friends as many concerts, particularly at smaller venues, sell out quickly.

➢ Regular Festival email updates.

➢ Acknowledgement in theFestival Programme.

➢ Opportunities to help with the running of Festival events and to attend the Society’s Annual Meeting.

Annual membership costs only £15 per household.

You can join in one of four ways:

♦ Contact Maggie Harries, 2 Copley Close, Bishopston, Swansea SA3 3JL UK

♦ Email: friends@gowerfestival.org

♦ Download a Gower Festival application form

♦ Pick up an application form at any festival venue.

Gower Festival Friends 100 Club

Don’t miss your chance to support the Gower Festival Society and win cash prizes for yourself!
There are three prize draws per year - July, November and March.

➢ 1st Prize per draw £100

➢ 2nd Prize of £50

➢ 3rd Prizes of £25 (the number of 3rd prizes is dependent on the number of tickets sold per year).
Last year the 100 Club raised over £600 for the Gower Festival - a significant contribution towards the cost of a concert.

The cost of a share is only £12 per year - that’s just £1per month. You may take out more than one share if you wish.

You can join in one of three ways:

♦ Contact Maggie Harries, 2 Copley Close, Bishopston, Swansea SA3 3JL UK

♦ Email: friends@gowerfestival.org

♦ Pick up an application form at any festival venue, or download an application form.

useful links

Gower Festival secretary at info@gowerfestival.org
Friends of Gower Festival secretary: friends@gowerfestival.org

Information about Swansea and Gower including, walks, what's on, accommodation:
‍www.visitswanseabay.com/
‍destination/gower-peninsula
Swansea Classical Guitar Circle: www.swanseaguitars.co.uk

Welcome to the Gower Festival

Latest news

WATCH THE KARL JENKINS
DOCUMENTARY ON BBC4

New Piano for 2024 Gower Festival

Supporting the Gower Festival

2025 Provisional programme

Don't MISS OUT
Buy your
Tickets now!

gower festival venues

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

The Story of the Gower Festival

READ OUR HISTORY OVER THE PAST
40 YEARS

Friends of the Gower Festival

Benefits of becoming a Friend

Gower Festival Friends 100 Club

Don't MISS OUT
Buy your
Tickets now!

useful links

Latest news

WATCH THE KARL JENKINS DOCUMENTARY ON BBC4

New Piano for 2024 Gower Festival

Supporting the Gower Festival

2025 Provisional programme

Don't MISS OUTBuy yourTickets now!

Social news

gower festival venues

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

The Story of the Gower Festival

READ OUR HISTORY OVER THE PAST 40 YEARS

Friends of the Gower Festival

Benefits of becoming a Friend

Gower Festival Friends 100 Club

Don't MISS OUTBuy yourTickets now!

useful links

WATCH THE KARL JENKINS
DOCUMENTARY ON BBC4

Don't MISS OUT
Buy your
Tickets now!

READ OUR HISTORY OVER THE PAST
40 YEARS

Don't MISS OUT
Buy your
Tickets now!