Croeso! Two-day Swansea festival attracts big name chefs, music and celebration of all things Welsh

A two-day festival is coming to Swansea with some big-name chefs, live music and a lot of fun.

Swansea’s festival celebrating all things Welsh, the Croeso Festival will be packing lots of excitement into the city centre when it returns on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 February.

The free event is organised by Swansea Council. Councillor Robert Francis-Davies, cabinet member for investment, regeneration and tourism, said: “We’re excited to be bringing this event to Swansea.

“It’s a great opportunity to showcase some of our fantastic food and drink and also attract new people into the city centre to see some of the chefs in action and experience something new in Swansea.”

Visitors heading to Croeso, held each day between 11am and 4pm, can expect to enjoy an exciting line-up of entertainment and cooking demonstrations that will get taste buds tingling. What’s more, it is free to attend, so you can just wander around the city centre venues and tap into what you fancy.

Food passion on the menu

Welsh food and drink is at the heart of Croeso, with kitchens in both the centre of Swansea Market and a dedicated marquee in Portland Street for a packed programme of cooking demonstrations.

Heading the line-up of celebrity chefs and home cooks will be Great British Menu’s Hywel Griffith, Nathan Davies and Bryn Williams alongside TV’s Dirty Vegan, Matt Pritchard, and Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn from Sam and Shauna’s Big Cook Out.

The former frontman of MTV’s Dirty Sanchez is now a vegan chef and ultra-athlete who loves to show how incredible, nourishing and easy to cook vegan food really is. Matt will be showcasing amazing plant-based food that tastes, in his words, ‘banging, on Saturday, at 11am in the market and 1pm at Portland Street.

Following an illustrious career working at some of the UK’s top restaurants, Hywel Griffith opened Beach House in Oxwich in 2016 and has since won several awards, including a Michelin Star. Hywel has two Saturday slots, at noon in the market and 2pm in Portland Street.

Bryn Williams has worked in some of the most prestigious kitchens in London, including under Marco Pierre White at The Criterion and Michel Roux at Le Gavroche. Bryn is now the chef-patron of Odette’s in London’s Primrose Hill and at Porth Eirias, a beach-front restaurant, cafe and bar in north Wales. He will be sharing his passion for fresh Welsh produce on Friday in the market at 11am and Portland Street at 1pm.

Head Chef of SY23 in Aberystwyth, Nathan Davies has represented Wales in BBC’s Great British Menu. His food style is seasonally driven with an emphasis on big flavours. Nathan will be using the best produce Wales has to offer in the Croeso kitchen on Friday, at noon in Portland Street and 2pm in the market.

Restaurateurs, writers and now TV presenters, Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn’s American BBQ style of cooking has gone proven to be popular with Welsh audiences regularly tuning in for Sam and Shauna’s Big Cook Out, which teaches communities how to cook big fiery feasts. Sam and Shauna will cooking up a storm in the Croeso kitchen in the market at 3pm on Saturday.

Great British Bake-Off semi-finalist, Jurgen Krauss will be baking a treat in the Croeso kitchen on Saturday at 12pm in Portland Street and 2pm in the market.

The German-born resident of Sussex, known for his bread-baking talents, endeared himself to viewers and was named star baker on three separate occasions during his run, and had been considered by many to be the favourite to win the competition.

Live music is only part of the entertainment

The sounds of original Welsh music will bring Castle Square to life. Bringing the best of Wales’ contemporary scene to the Croeso stage will be singer-songwriters like Cerys Hafana, Derw, Dafydd Dedd, Tapestri, Mabli Gwynne, Bwca and Pwdin Reis.

There’ll be a fun atmosphere at Croeso with giant rugby players and daffodils walking about, so why not say hello to the cheerful stilt walkers? Get your face painted free, drop into an arts and crafts workshop on the Annibendod bus, or follow the St David’s Trail to bag yourself a prize.

Head to the Cwtsh Marquee for family activities presented in Welsh. You can find out more about Welsh, and how you can start learning the language. And, with entertainment like Mellin Theatre Arts, S4C’s Cyw, and the Welsh Elvis, Wynne Roberts, there really is something for everyone at Croeso.

(Lead image: Swansea Council)