A new music festival, featuring the cream of the Welsh music scene, will be held in Aberystwyth for the first time this summer.

G?yl Aber is to be held on Friday, 5 July, from 2pm at Aberystwyth Rugby Club and is organised as part of the Aberystwyth and area appeal for the 2020 Ceredigion National Eisteddfod.

It is hoped however, that it will be an annual event and become a key element of the Welsh music calendar.

The headline artists are the award-winning Candelas. The five-piece rock band from Llanuwchllyn are made up of band members Osian Williams, Ifan Jones, Gruffydd Edwards, Tomos Edwards and Lewis Williams.

Also appearing at the festival is folk singer Gwilym Bowen Rhys. Hailing from Snowdonia, Gwilym draws from old Welsh music and poetry and mixes them with his own compositions.

In 2019 he won the award for ‘best solo artist’ at the Welsh folk awards and has performed his music around the world. He recently released his third album, Arenig.

Gwilym will also perform as part of Plu, an alternative folk trio also featuring Elan Mererid Rhys and Marged Eiry Rhys.

Another north Wales band, Y Niwl, will also appear, alongside many other bands from the Welsh-language music scene.

One of the most recent additions to the line-up is Roughion, an electronic music duo from Aberystwyth who are currently based in Cardiff.

And also set to perform are Bwca, a five-piece band whose members hail from Aberystwyth, the Dyfi Valley and Ll?n Peninsula areas.

Beginning at 2pm with musical acts for local schoolchildren and featuring local ukulele band Iwcadwli, the aim is to make it as attractive as possible for anyone living within the Aberystwyth area.

Organiser Owain Schiavone believes an event such as this should be held on a regular basis in the town.

“While the fact that the National Eisteddfod is visiting Ceredigion next year has been a catalyst for G?yl Aber, I hope that this will become an annual occurrence in Aberystwyth and be a showcase for the Welsh-language music scene."

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