This September in Nevern, we invite you to join us for Cynhaeaf Cwiar, a weekend of creativity, ritual, and community to mark the turning of the year. Together we will honour the harvest, the changing seasons, and the many ways we embody becoming and belonging.
On Saturday 20th September, we begin with our Mask Making Workshop. This is a space for becoming, where mask-making becomes a tool to explore identity, expression, and the different selves we hold within us. Queer identity is fluid, layered, and expansive; through this creative process we will craft masks that bring form to aspects of the self – the bold, the hidden, the playful, and the sacred. You might choose to create a mask for your inner protector, a past or future self, or for a version of you that the world has yet to see. While we will touch on myth and folklore, the focus is personal and present, using the mask as mirror, threshold, and vessel for transformation.
The morning offers a full mask-making session from 10am to 1pm (limited to 12 participants, ages 12+) and an easy drop-in mask-making option from 11am to 1pm, open to all without limits.
In the afternoon, from 2pm to 4pm, we gather for a Singing Workshop. This is an opportunity to raise our voices in community, weaving sound and song into the festival. No experience is necessary; simply bring your voice, your breath, and an openness to singing together.
On Sunday 21st September, we move into ritual with a procession to mark the autumn equinox. This is a time to give thanks for the abundance of summer and to prepare ourselves for the descent into the dark and cold of winter. Our celebration embraces the idea that the wheel of the year has no fixed point; like the tide, time is fluid and ever-turning, and we turn with it.
We will gather at the Nevern Hall from 11am for tea, biscuits, and preparation before the procession begins at 12.30pm. Participants are invited to wear colours across the seasonal spectrum: the golden light of summer, the oranges and reds of autumn leaves, and the deep black of a winter’s night.
Following the procession, at 1pm, we come together for the Cynhaeaf Cwiar Feast. This harvest meal, with a queer and folky twist, welcomes the turning of the seasons through food and song. A hearty vegan cawl with bread and cheese, made fresh from local produce, will be served and accompanied by music from the Reel Rebels. Guests are encouraged to bring puddings to share and offerings for the Harvest Altar. Gluten-free options will be available.
Cynhaeaf Cwiar is a space to celebrate queerness, community, and the shifting cycles of nature. Across the weekend, we hope to create a sense of warmth, reflection, and joy as we move together through creativity, ritual, and feast.
Location
Nevern Village Hall
Nevern
Newport PEMBS
SA42 0NB
