Faenol Festival 2008 (by Caernarfon Online)
All the photos will appear here as the festival goes on.
Up to the minute news and reviews as well as all the gossip.
Click Here for a chance to win two tickets for each evening of the Faenol in our FREE Competition.
12th August 2008
WelshRock and Pop Mafia to ignite the Dragon’s Fire at FAENOL 2008
The godfathers of Welsh Rock and pop and their sidekicks are preparing for a showdown of the best Welsh music at Faenol Festival’s Tân y Ddraig finale on Monday 25 August this year. Leading the line-up will be Cerys Matthews who will be joined by, amongst others, Maffia Mr Huws, one the 1980’s most popular bands and Ryland Teifi. Today, two more names were added to the glittering line up: Geraint Lovgreen a'r enw Da and Daniel Lloyd a Mr Pinc.
Geraint Lovegreen who now lives in Caernarfon, is a leading Welsh musician and poet. He has been singing lead vocals as part of the very popular Geraint Lovegreen a’r Enw da since they formed in 1983. Daniel Lloyd a Mr Pinc on the other hand, are a relatively new band having been formed after Daniel Lloyd won the inter-college Eisteddfod in 2003. A soft rock group, influenced by classic rock and a bit of funk, they released their first album Goleuadau Llundain on the RASAL label during the summer of 2005.
Leading Welsh singer-songwriter and actor Ryland Teifi will also be gracing the Faenol stage this year. Following the success of his debut album ‘Heno’ in 2005, Ryland has performed in Dublin, London, Seattle, Calgary, Vancouver and Paris and appeared at festivals including the Dublin Festival of World Cultures and Cnapan Festivals. Ryland recently released a new album ‘Under the Blue’, and has been spending much of the summer working with a new band and developing some new songs to complement old favourites, that he is set to delight Faenol audiences with.
The usual precautionary measures regarding alcohol will be in place again this year for the Tân y Ddraig night of the Faenol Festival. These measures are put in place to prevent under-age drinking on site and to safeguard the enjoyment and safety of Faenol audiences. The Monday night performance is subject to further restrictions in order to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all our audience because it is a completely open field – ie, there is no seating. The alcohol policy is set out below:
Each of the Festival nights is subject to the following policy:
- No person under the age of 21 will be allowed to enter the arena in possession of alcohol
- No person under the age of 21 will be allowed to purchase alcohol from the bar in the arena, unless they produce identification to prove they are 18 years old or over.
The policy for Tân Y Ddraig will also include the following:
- No cans will be allowed into the arena
- No glass bottles will be allowed into the arena
Tickets for Boyzone at the Faenol Festival on Friday 22 August are priced at seats £40.00 / grass £32.50. Tickets for the Opera Gala on Saturday 23 August are priced at seats £38.50 / grass £30.00; tickets for Music under the Stars on Sunday 24 August are priced at seats £38.50 / grass £30.00; tickets for Tân y Ddraig on Monday 25 August are priced at £19.50 / £12.50 (under 16). All tickets are available from the Festival website or by calling the Venue Cymru box office on 01492 872000, Theatr Gwynedd box office on 01248 351708 or Silver Star Holidays on 01286 671771 (telephone and internet bookings will be subject to booking fees, however, no booking fees for personal callers to these box offices paying by cash / cheque). A 10% discount is available for bookings of 10 or more. Faenol Festival is also delighted to offer a weekend Festival Promenade Ticket – enjoy all four nights for just £90 (plus booking fee).
FAENOL MEZZO SOPRANO SAVES THE DAY (5th August 2008)
Nadia Krasteva, the stunning Bulgarian Mezzo Soprano who will be joining Bryn Terfel for the Faenol Festival Opera Night on Saturday 23 August, saved the day at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff last night. She stepped in last minute after Luciana D'Intino had to withdraw from the performance of Verdi’s Requiem. This was her UK debut, and according to audience members at the event, Faenol Festival goers are in for a real treat!
Bryn Terfel who performed with Nadia at the Eisteddfod last night said “Nadia was amazing. She’s still a young singer, but has a rich voice which mesmerised us all. I’m very excited about the Faenol opera night this year – it’s going to be spectacular.”
Nadia was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and in 2000 graduated from the National Music Academy P. Vladigerov. In the 2001/02 season Nadia Krasteva sang in Bulgarian opera houses and theatres in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas and the State Opera of Zagora. Her roles included Maddalena in ”Rigoletto”, Fenena in ”Nabucco” and title rolein Carmen. In autumn 2001 she toured with the ensemble of Bourgas Opera.
Since September 2002 she has been a member of the soloist ensemble of the Wiener Staatsoper, where her debut role was Fenena in “Nabucco”. Since then she has appeared in more then 30 roles including Emilia in “Otello”, Ulrica in “Un ballo in maschera”, Marina in „Boris Godunov“, Léonor de Guzman in “La Favorita”, title role in “Carmen”, Meg Page in “Falstaff”, Adalgisa in “Norma”, Maddalena in„Rigoletto“, Donna Maria Gesualdo in “Gesualdo”, Giulietta in “Les contes d’Hoffmann”, 3rd Lady in ” Die Zauberflöte, 1st Norn in ”Götterdämmerung”. Nadia also participated in the gala concert “50 years of re-opening of the State Opera Vienna” on 5th November 2005.
She is well known for her portrayal of Carmen having sung the role recently at Sofia Opera, the Open Air Festival in St. Margarethen, the Riga Opera Festiva and the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland. In future seasons she will sing the role at the Wiener Staatsoper, the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam, Bolshoi Opera in Moscowand at the Lyric Opera, Chicago. No doubt, she will treat Faenol audiences to some favorite exerpts from the opera.
Tickets for the Opera Gala on Saturday 23 August are priced at seats £38.50 / grass £30.00. All tickets are available from the Festival website www.brynfest.com or by calling the Venue Cymru box office on 01492 872000, Theatr Gwynedd box office on 01248 351708 or Silver Star Holidays on 01286 671771