New world music festival heading for Wales

A new world music event called Kaya Festival is heading to Wales this year and is set to take place in the grounds of the Vaynol Estate near Bangor, North Wales over the Bank holiday weekend from Friday June 1st until Sunday June 3rd, efestivals has reported.

Kaya aims to offer a diverse mix of African, Jamaican, Caribbean and world musical acts, along with a variety of workshops, food stalls and festival activities. Friday night will be Global DJ Night with international and local DJs, sound systems and live sound clashes including Snowboy, and Frankie Francis, while Saturday’s main stage will host Tony Allen, Kanda Bongo Man, Dele Sossimi, and Sona Jobarteh. Sunday will then celebrate he culture of Jamaica and the Caribbean with Lee Scratch Perry, Studio One vs Trojan Sound System,Ska Cubano, and Dub Pistols.

Stages will host live music until midnight; cabaret, spoken word, acoustic live music, comedy until 1am; Kaya ‘After Hours’ music and themed nights until 3.30am.

Saturday will also see Kaya holding a ‘Do Youth Day’ offering local teenagers a headline act, training and mentoring to celebrate the youth of North Wales. There will also be an opportunity for ten young people to get involved in the running of the festival to gain valuable work experience.

The festival is a new venture for business partners and musicians Thabani Nyoni and Dece Gambe. "2012 is a great year to kick off our new festival, we are offering something a bit different to the local and UK festival crowd celebrating diversity, music and art in beautiful North Wales," said Nyoni.

Keeping the festival affordable and leaving a sustainable economic footprint is of paramount importance to the organisers. "We are keeping tickets prices at a reasonable level to encourage local people and families to attend. The Vaynol excelled when they hosted the BBC Radio 1 music festival, we perform regularly in North Wales, we wanted the opportunity to enjoy this fantastic location," Nyoni added.

Festival organisers are working with local companies to source goods and services from the North Wales area. "Larger impersonal festivals are being hit by the economic climate; there is still a place for smaller capacity cottage festivals that offer a unique music experience. We are looking forward to Bangor becoming the Kaya ‘home to the world’," commented Nyoni.

Weekend camping tickets are priced at £75, while day tickets are priced at £45. There are no age restrictions, but those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or older. Children (0-12) get free entry but will still need a ticket. Tickets go on sale on Friday 3rd February 2012.