Only Seeing Is Believing: 30 Years of the Garden Festival of Wales

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Only Seeing is Believing: 30 Years of the Garden Festival of Wales

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BBC Radio Wales - Only Seeing is Believing: 30 Years of the Garden Festival of Wales

Comedian Gareth Gwynn explores the legacy of Ebbw Vale's Garden Festival of Wales in 1992.

To mark 30 years since the Garden Festival of Wales, comedy writer Gareth Gwynn looks back at the build-up and legacy of a project which saw over two million people visit Ebbw Vale.

It is 30 years since schools, clubs and societies across Wales were dealt a curveball in their usual plan for a summer day out. For one year the usual theme parks and mining museums were temporarily relegated as 1992’s Garden Festival of Wales in Ebbw Vale became the place to be.

With a land train, mechanical dragons, sky shuttle and exhibitions from local and national businesses, there was certainly plenty to see and do - So it’s no surprise that a 9 year old Gareth Gwynn was one of the festival’s two million visitors. 30 years later, he now wants to know… What on earth was that all about?

Gareth investigates where the idea for a Garden Festival came from, what the organisers hoped to achieve and what the legacy of the festival turned out to be. Did Ebbw Vale, as the fifth and final UK Garden Festival, suffer from being at the tail end of a nearly decade long project, or learn from its predecessors mistakes?

Gareth speaks to historians, politicians and festival visitors, dips into the BBC archive, visits an Owl Sanctuary and, who knows, might even finish his Garden Festival of Wales jigsaw - all in an attempt to find out exactly what happens when the state tries to have fun.

Produced and presented by Gareth Gwynn. 
An Overcoat Media Production.

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