It’s the week Cardiffians do fear, as the Freshers from Uni are here! Not a fan of tagging along to Freshers Week events with a bunch of students just to try and get free pens and pizza? Try our list of cheap and free events.

Open Doors- Howell’s School, Llandaff

21 Sep @ 10am – Free

Howell’s is arguably Cardiff’s most exclusive school. Also probably the oldest, built in 1858. In what is probably this week’s most exciting Open Doors event, get a chance to have a look round the school. Other Open Doors events this week focus on Cardiff’s many churches.

Sam Hickman: The Only Song in my Heart is for You

21 Sep @ 6.30pm – YMCA Roath – £3

Sam Hickman is a harpist who grew up in Texas, went to Cardiff University, then played the Hilton Hotel for a while. With a mix of jazz and storytelling, this event is billed as “an hour of music you don’t know from a woman you’ve never heard of.” But it might be worth a try, right? Book a ticket here.

Together Stronger – Meet the team and explore #OurSpace

Sat 22 Sept @ 1-6pm (drop-in) – Wales Millenium Centre – Sprout Event

Play a game of ping-pong, meet young people and the Sparc team from Valleys Kids, and hear all about Together Stronger.

In the May half term, Valleys Kids took over Level 5 of Tate Modern’s Blavatnik building as part of the Tate Exchange programme. Young people supported by the Sparc team at Valleys Kids created a pop-up youth club drawing inspiration from their now-closed youth centre in Rhydyfelin.

As part of the Wales Millennium Centre and Valleys Kids partnership Together Stronger, we welcome the pop-up youth club to the foyer space at the Centre. We welcome you to drop-in too – experience the installation, play some cards and have a conversation with the young people involved.

Freshers Fun Zone

22 Sept @ 10-4pm – Cardiff Uni Students Union – Free

Loads of silly games to play at CUSU. I left most of the Freshers events off this list because, unless you’re a fresher yourself in which case you probably know all about them and also well done for finding The Sprout so soon after your arrival, they’re kind of for the freshers. But this one looks so good I couldn’t leave it off the list. You probably don’t need to be a student to go, just go and have fun. Info here.

Comedy at Tiny Rebel

24 Sep @ 8.30pm – Tiny Rebel – PWYW

An incredible line-up at this comedy night. Will Palmer in particular is a comedic genius in my estimation. The headliner is Frank Foucault. Is that his real name? I’m not sure. Maybe he’s going to tell us all about prisons. I don’t know. It’s pay what you want though, and it’s in one of the trendiest pubs in town. Worth a gander on Facebook.

UKRO Challenge 2018

27-29 Sep – Roald Dahl Plas – Free

The United Kingdom Rescue Organisation Challenge. This involves fire and rescue teams competing to complete certain exercises against the clock. They’ll cut a dummy out of a car, and perform a water rescue too, amongst other exercises. Looks like it’s free to watch too. More info here.

Have fun and see you next week! – Ed.