A FAMILY-FRIENDLY music festival held in honour of a woman who died from cancer is returning - after the Covid pandemic put it on hold for two years.
When Glastonbury lover Leanne Self was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2015 she was devastated that she would miss her favourite festival.
Her childhood friend Jayne Jeremiah suggested they host a mini festival of their own - and Glastonselfy 2015 was born.
Sadly Ms Self died before it was held, but the festival went ahead in her memory and has snowballed over the years, bringing people together to enjoy live music and entertainment while supporting different charities each year.
As with most large-scale events, the annual festival, coinciding with Glastonbury weekend, was unable to go ahead in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.
But the festival is set to return for its sixth year this year, relocating from Parc Penallta in Hengoed to Pandy Park in Crosskeys.
“I’m very excited – tickets have been flying out,” said Ms Jeremiah.
“People have missed out on live music so much and it’s nice to have something to bring people together and look forward to.”
The new location is more accessible - it's a seven minute walk from Crosskeys railway station which has a nearby bus stop, and a three minute walk from The Solar Strand bus stop. Plus, Coleg Gwent's Crosskeys campus will be allowing festival-goers to use their grounds for car parking.
Camping will not be available this year.
“As soon as we announced Glastonselfy 2022, we had people offering to help,” added Ms Jeremiah.
“People are excited as life is going back to normal - we actually had to turn some performers down.”
Glastonselfy 2022 will take place on Friday, June 24, and Saturday, June 25, and will be headlined by Queen tribute band, One Vision, coming down from Liverpool to perform.
There will be an abundance of cover bands over the two days, with an indoor and an outdoor stage.
Glastonselfy 2022 is packed with fun for people of all ages - including:
- Arts and crafts;
- Market stalls;
- Animal workshops;
- Circus and magic shows;
- African drums;
- Inflatables;
- Face painting.
The bar at Crosskeys RFC will be open, helping the venue recover from the impact of flooding in 2020 and Covid-related lockdowns.
Along with supporting this local business, Glastonselfy will be raising funds for equipment and animals for family-run farm Wellies Farm, in Newport, which welcomes children with additional needs, critical illnesses, or mental health issues.
Their name coincides with one of Glastonselfy's themes - wellies [shoes] - with flowers often put in wellies in memory of Leanne as a nod to her love for festivals.
People can book day tickets for the Friday or Saturday, or book full or weekend tickets for Glastonselfy 2022.
Tickets are free for under 13s who must be supervised by an adult.
People can book online for an e-ticket, with their wristbands given to them on arrival to the festival, via https://bit.ly/3oMHxt6
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