This summer in Cardiff, come and be part of the Summer of Smiles festival!
What is the Summer of Smiles?
Child Friendly Cardiff has recognised that the period of time during the pandemic has been particularly hard for children and young people. With restrictions loosening, they have taken the opportunity to create a summer-long festival celebrating young people called Summer of Smiles.
The festival aims to celebrate children and young people, and provide them an opportunity to enjoy Cardiff outdoors given the struggles that that they have faced during the pandemic.
When is it?
The Summer of Smiles will take place between 25th June – 29th August in Cardiff. As part of this festival, there will be activities all over Cardiff, with the main hubs being in Cardiff city centre: at Churchill Way and City Hall lawns.
Churchill Way Takeover
Between 25th June – 29th August, Churchill Way in Cardiff city centre will be filled with a natural playscape and art installations. As time goes on, there will be changes to the development of the site, so be sure to go back and check it out when you get a chance.
Main Festival Site
As part of the festival, there will be a festival site pitched on the lawn of City Hall for 3 weeks from 20th July – 8th August. Please note that this main festival site is NOT open on Mondays.
This main festival site is packed full of fun and exciting opportunities for children and young people of all ages. The site has 2 main time slots for entry:
- 10:00am – 12:30pm
- 1:30pm – 5:30pm
Entry to the festival is ticketed. Tickets can be bought online in advance using Eventbrite. Tickets for adults and children are £2 each. Children aged 2 and under are free to enter, but tickets will still need to be reserved.
Our stall
As you head into the main festival site at Cardiff City Hall Lawns, be sure to check out ProMo-Cymru’s tent. It’s a black tent as you enter – you can’t miss it.
Here you’ll find information about TheSprout, Cardiff’s online information site for young people, and Meic, Wales’ information, support, and advocacy helpline for children and young people.
Head over to play some games and nab some freebies!
Summer of Smiles – Commissioned Artists
As part of the festival, ProMo-Cymru has commissioned 7 talented Cardiff creatives aged between 14-18 to create a piece of art about what it’s like to live in Cardiff.
Between 20th July – 1st August, swing by the stall and you’ll get to see some of the artists previous work. You might even be able to meet some of our talented creatives and ask them questions about their work.
During the last week of the festival between the 3rd and 8th of August, our stall will turn into an exhibition. The stall will house the amazing works created by the young artists as part of the commission. Come back and have a look at how their work has progressed over the 3 weeks!
What else is going on in the city?
Visit the Summer of Smiles schedule to see what’s going on as part of the festival across the city.
You can also check out some blogs from our resident journalists about what’s going on within the main festival site:
Keeping up to date
For the duration of the main festival site, TheSprout will be bringing you exclusives on the festival. Be sure to check back on the website for the latest, or follow us on social media!
- Twitter: @feedthesprout
- Instagram: @feedthesprout
- Facebook: @TheSprout.co.uk