new world music festival announced for Wales

A new world music festival has been announced for Wales. The inaugural Kaya Festival will be held in the grounds of the Vaynol Estate near Bangor, North Wales, and will take place over the Bank holiday weekend, from Friday 1st until Sunday 3rd June 2012.

Kaya hopes to offer an assortment of African, Jamaican, Caribbean and world musical flavours along with a diverse range 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.

Saturday's main stage plays host to Tony Allen, Kanda Bongo Man, Dele Sossimi, and Sona Jobarteh.

Sunday celebrating the 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.

On the Saturday Kaya are also holding a 'Do Youth Day' offering local teenagers a headline act, training and mentoring to celebrate the potential of young people in North Wales. The festival team aim to leave a positive 'human footprint' and there is an opportunity for 10 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 Thabani.

Keeping the festival affordable and leaving a sustainable economic footprint is important 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," Thabani 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'," said Thabani.

A weekend camping ticket is priced at £75, Day tickets are priced at £45. There are no age restrictions for those attending the Kaya festival, but anyone under-16 must be accompanied by a responsible 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, and eFestivals will have links to buy them then.

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