Cardiff Local Guide A guide to all Things Cardiff
Pierre Davies, the founder of the Do Not Go Gentle Festival, is holding forth about the annual music and literary gathering which celebrates the life and work of Swansea-born Dylan Thomas – and I’m amused to discover it was this very newspaper which provided the inspiration for this cultural event.
Now into its second year, Davies explains it was a story in our news pages that sparked his imagination and led to him creating the festival, which was held for the first time in the Uplands area of Swansea last year.
“I read a story about a Dylan Thomas Literary Festival in Ireland held in a hotel which Dylan’s wife’s (Caitlin) father owned,” remembers Davies, a musician who was formerly with Welsh folk outfit Out Of The Woods.
“I live in Uplands in Swansea and that’s where Dylan Thomas was born (at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive).
“It’s full of cafes and bars, and it’s where all the students, musicians and artists live. So I reckoned it would be a good idea to launch a festival there.
“The idea seeded in my head, and as I’m a musician and I know a lot of other musicians I thought I could book some bands for this and it snowballed from there.
“The first year was fun because it allowed me to pick my favourite bands to play from around Wales.
“Luckily the Dylan Thomas connection helped as everyone agreed to play. Last year’s line-up was great – we had Welsh artistes like Trwbador and The Gentle Good, comedian Phil Kay, Helen Griffin, who performed Caitlin – a one-woman show – and we even had the Dunvant Male Voice Choir. It all seemed to fit together well.”
The public response persuaded Davies that a Dylan Thomas-themed event was much needed.
“In the first year you’re never quite sure how it’s going to go. It started really quiet and suddenly people started turning up, lots of them. At one point we were turning people away at some of the venues.
“It was overwhelming, especially people coming up to me saying ‘this is incredible, why hasn’t Uplands had anything like this before’ and ‘when’s the next one?’
“We had such an euphoric feeling at the end of the first festival, and because next year is Dylan’s centenary we thought maybe this could be a three-year project. Now it feels like we’re about to release our difficult second album!”
A few of the performers that appeared last year will return in an expanded line-up that includes such headliners as performance poet, comedian and musician John Hegley; Scottish funnyman Phil Kay; director Andrew Sinclair, who will introduce his classic 1972 film version of Under Milk Wood; and Bafta Cymru-winning actress Helen Griffin with her Edinburgh hit show Who’s Afraid of Rachel Roberts?
There will also be a heavy emphasis on music, including performances from Trwbador, Paper Aeroplanes, Al Lewis, The Gentle Good, Huw M, Quiet Marauder, Heavy Petting Zoo and Howl.
“I’m really chuffed with the line-up but word-of-mouth helped because everyone seemed to enjoy appearing and that helps with attracting new people this,” says Davies.
There are two quirky highlights – Under Plywood and Eggs Laid By Tigers.
“Under Plywood is an update of Under Milk Wood brought to the modern day. It’s based in Cardiff but it could be any city. The writer of the show has thought how would the scenes from Under Milk Wood be portrayed today in modern Wales. I haven’t seen it but I’ve seen some video clips and it’s really funny.
It will be launching properly next year to tie in with the Dylan 100 (centenary) celebrations when it will be playing at Taliesin Arts Centre (in Swansea) and then around Wales, so people coming to our festival can be among the first to see it.
“As for Eggs Laid By Tigers (the Danish band who set Thomas’ words to music), the week before last year’s festival they got in touch on Facebook saying ‘we would love to play your festival’. Unfortunately, it was too last minute for us to accommodate them last year, so they were one of the first names for this year.
“I was blown away by them. They were so keen to come to Wales. They’re massive Dylan Thomas fans and we’ll be putting them up in the house he was born in, so they’re incredibly excited by that.
“They’re also bringing a film crew with them from Copenhagen. It’s a big deal for them and it’s great for us to have a band like them coming from so far away here as well.”
As for Thomas’ enduring appeal that still fascinates all these years later, Davies says: “He was the first rock ‘n’ roll star of his time. The stories of what he did in New York, those times of debauchery and hanging out with Charlie Chaplin are amazing.
“It doesn’t seem real, does it, a boy from Swansea becoming so famous on a world stage. And I think that is his charm. He was this rock ’n’ roll star but also this incredible poet, and his words still sound as fresh today as they did back then.”
The Do Not Go Gentle Festival runs from November 1 to 3. For full details, visit donotgogentlefestival.com
