Green Man Festival sells out in a record 3 months in advance

Green Man, Wales’ contemporary music and arts festival, celebrates its 13th birthday this week, one of a few UK festivals to have sold out, and in a record 3 months in advance, reinforcing its position as one of the top UK events.

Showcasing a stellar line-up of well known and emerging national and international talent, Green Man is an annual family-friendly festival in the Brecon Beacons. It celebrates music, literature, cinema, comedy, theatre, circus skills, children’s entertainment, workshops, tasty food made from locally sourced ingredients, and an opportunity to rejuvenate through the incredible location and its own spa, therapy, hot tub and yoga areas.

The festival’s 10 areas each present a unique experience, including The Courtyard, a Welsh Craft Beer Festival offering 100 tasty beverages from independent Welsh brewers, and a science area showcasing cutting edge research and innovations from Cardiff, Imperial, Aberystwyth, Swansea, UCL, Bristol, and Cambridge Universities, as well as the Met Office, Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK. Arts installations, all-night bonfires, secret gigs, and the spectacular burning of the giant Green Man on the last night all add to the festival’s unique identity.

Green Man is a national event attended by 20,000 people per day, over 4 days, of which 5% come from outside the UK. Research from Oxford Economics for the recent UK Music tourism report ‘Wish You Were Here,’ identified Green Man, along with Wales Millennium Centre as drivers of the £95 million direct and indirect spend generated by music tourism in Wales, and ‘highlighted Green Man as festival driving music tourism across the UK.’

It is the largest contemporary music and arts festival in Wales, and is considered as one of Wales’ flagship events by Welsh Government due to the festival’s positive economic impact. In 2014 the Creative Sector and Visit Wales, entered into a 2 year agreement to support and develop Green Man’s wealth creation in Wales.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism Ken Skates, who visited the Settlement area at Green Man earlier this week said:

“Music festivals and concerts not only help to promote Welsh culture and our dynamic creative industries to an international audience, they also provide a year round boost for tourism. As the ‘Wish You Were Here’ report illustrates, music tourism is a growth area and last year generated £95 million in total for the Welsh economy, and helped sustain 768 full-time local jobs. It is an area we are building on and developing as part of our tourism strategy.”

Fiona Stewart of Green Man said:

“We really appreciate Welsh Government’s support of Green Man. Projects such as the subsidised ‘Settlers Pass,’ would not be sustainable without it. It extends Green Man into a 7 day holiday in Wales, generating £500,000 annually to tourism, leisure, food and goods retailers in Wales.

“This year we worked with Visit Wales to develop a unique space that could form part of Green Man. The ‘Ty Croeso’/  ‘Welcome House,’ concept will be located in the Babbling Tongues area. The ‘Ty Croeso,’ tent will offer a comfortable space for people to relax, children’s entertainment, a retelling of the Myths of Wales, free food tasting from Welsh producers and awareness raising of Welsh tourist attractions, and should be a welcome addition for Green Man attendees.”