Musical talent in Pontypridd celebrated at LINK Fest 2018
James Payne • Oct 09, 2018
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The annual LINK Fest, organised by the Your Pontypridd Business Improvement District took part this past weekend featuring eleven of Pontypridd's finest venues. The festival celebrated music from the 50's all the way up modern trance music in a weekend packed full of live artists, a unique film screening and poetry.
The festival kicked off on Friday afternoon in the unusual setting of a coffee shop at Costa Pontypridd, curated by Young Promoters Network the line up featured young upcoming artists from South Wales - Christian Punter, Casual Overload and Diggs who each brought their unique style to Costa whilst customers enjoyed their coffees and each act was warmly applauded throughout their sets.
The entertainment for Pontypridd's residents and visitors continued on a busy Friday night with the brilliant Little Folk putting on a great performance of americana music at The Tumble Inn, getting people to their feet and dancing to classic country numbers. Young Promoters Network second show of the weekend took place at a packed out Clwb y Bont, a venue famous for showcasing young talent as the crowd were treated to perfromances from Jack Mason, Angri Kidd, The Rivers and sssnakes who will definitely a band to watch our for in the near future.
Your Pontypridd also offered ska music on the Firday night at The Muni Arts Centre with 2 Rude performing all the classics, with free entry attracting a good crowd. The first evening of the Staylittle Music weekender took place with an excellent line up of Tom Jenkins (Straight Lines), The Devil in Virginia and local favourites The People the Poet at the wonderful setting of Globetrotters Bar, finally Platform 11 offered a unique night out with the talented Paul Skelton playing trance classics on a Piano amazing the crowd who enjoyed a night full of classic dance tunes to see out Day 1 of LINK Fest.
The Saturday of LINK Fest saw music performed across six venues in Pontypridd, starting with the special offering of the South Wales Pipers at Pontypridd Train Station. Pontypridd Museum was taken back to the 50's with Howard from GTFM playing some of the best chart songs from 1956, followed by a mesmerising performance by Cheryl Roberts, the afternoon concluded with a special screening of 'Rock Around the Clock' which was warmly applauded at the end, with many of the audience when the sequel will be coming to the Museum!
Saturday evening featured a variety of music, Oll an Gwella wowed the audience at Clwb y Bont with their traditional acapella vocals filling out the room. Alfreds played host to party band The Strip Lights who played to a packed dancefloor all night. The Bar Hounds came to Soul Suite for the very first time and manager Jason Frost said "The band were great and everyone had a really good time."
Globetrotters hosted their second event of the weekend with the wonderful Ofelia playing in an intimate setting, with great support from James Bower and Colenso Jones on another busy night at the venue. The final day of LINK Fest began back at Globetrotters with an amazing line up - many of South Wales finest poets performed from 2pm at the venue, followed by five live acts including Matthew Frederick of Climbing Trees, Aled Rheon, Toby Hay, Jim Ghedi and Bella & Gareth. Owner of Globetrotters Dan Jones said "the bar had an excellent weekend, we were full every night and had lots of great feedback from visitors
." A very successful weekend concluded at The Skinny Dog with local band The Acoustix - a unique duo entertaining the crowd with a range of covers from the 1960's all the way up to modern classics!
A special thank you to everyone involved in LINK Fest and we look forward to seeing you all in 2018! For all the best footage and photos from the weekend visit https://www.yourpontypridd.co.uk/LINKFEST18
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WE’RE HIRING: BUSINESS CRIME REDUCTION PARTNERSHIP CO-ORDINATOR
Take a look at everything happening in Your Pontypridd this Halloween and half-term break!
Bravery, innovation, leadership, selflessness: just some of the attributes that were celebrated last night with the return of the annual South Wales Police Awards last night. The awards, held at Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, recognised officers, staff, volunteers and partners who have gone above and beyond for the force and the communities served by South Wales Police. The Taff Neighbourhood Policing Team which serves the community of Pontypridd, were nominated for two awards - the Police Community Support Officer of the Year Award & the Police and Crime Commissioner Exceptional Problem Solving in Partnership Award. The Taff team were successful in securing both awards, a major achievement for the town's local Policing team. The first award for the Taff Neighbourhood Policing Team went to PCSO Hannah Lowe who was described as the "Heart and soul of Pontypridd town" - Hannah Lowe, who is committed to tackling crime and disorder and is an integral part of initiatives including Pontypridd Outreach, a Halloween trail and a building painting project. Please see the video below from South Wales Police Twitter page showing Hannah's reaction to receiving the award:
