Updated 27 March 2026
2026 is the 39th annual Radyr & Morganstown Festival and is being held in aid of City Hospice.
The Festival started with the Fete on Saturday 2nd May. After anxiously looking at the weather forecasts all week we went ahead with the Fete and the weather remained kind. The bar and BBQ were in full swing and the performances of the primary aged children were excellent including maypole dancing. There were around 25 stalls.
On Saturday evening there was a concert organised by Rotary in Christ Church performed by the Castell Coch Choral Society. They performed a wide variety of pieces which were well received by the audience.
Sunday afternoon was the History Society walk to Cathays Cemetery. We learnt about saw a number of the graves including the 14 year old balloon girl who died on her first parachute jump. On Sunday evening we had the Civic Service attended by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff and the Lady Mayoress, joined by our MP, County Councillors and Mark Drakeford. This was followed by a reception provided by the Community Council.
Over the first three days there was an art exhibition in the Methodist Hall which was very well attended.
On Bank Holiday Monday there was an open day at Radyr Tennis Club and Tuesday saw the Gardener’s Question time in the evening held at Pugh’s Garden Centre with a panel of three chaired by Jim Goodwin.
Wednesday evening saw a sold out audience at the OCR for our Wine and Cheese night. This has now been run for 4 years and still attracts a full room of people. Everyone had a great time and the bar did a roaring business all evening.
Thursday was the Tenovus Quiz. After a disappointing number of teams entered last year, this year we were back up to an entry of 9 teams of 8 people. The competition between three teams was fierce with the winners eventually triumphant by three points after 8 rounds of questions.
On Friday evening we were treated to a night of Jazz performed by Cube. They have been a part of the Festival for many years and were thoroughly enjoyed again.
Saturday was the Party in the Park. Another glorious day after anxiously looking at weather forecasts again all week. The BBQ and bar did a roaring trade once again and the bands and choirs were appreciated by a very large audience. The Radyrcals again were the headline band and closed the show.
There was a well attended return of the Cymanfa Ganu at Christ Church on Sunday evening which was well received by all.
Thursday evening was the second year for our Boozy Bards event. With a mixture of folk songs, poems, monologues and readings the evening went well with a bigger audience than the first year.
Friday saw an excellent lunchtime concert performed on the organ by David Thomas with a variety of types of music.
In the evening there were two events. At the cricket club there was an evening of food and entertainment with our BBQ doing steady business. Whilst this was taking place we had a Science with a pint evening in the OCR. There were three speakers, two from the university and one from the museum in Cardiff who ended the session with a talk on dinosaurs and fossils. We also learnt about the effect of climate change.
On Saturday morning there were two performances of Dinosaur Explorer by Louby Lou in the Hub for the under 4s. The artistes were dressed as expected in safari type suits and a great time was had by all.
Saturday afternoon saw a welcome return of the Val Allen dog show. Even though the weather was not perfect, the owners and their dogs came out and entered 10 different classes.
The Festival ended in Christ Church on Sunday evening with a closing concert featuring Cor Caerdydd. This was very well attended and the choir and their soloists gave a remarkable performance. During the Interval the Raffle was drawn and it was announced that the Festival had already raised over £5K for the Charity, with more to come.