Creativity – Play – Dance – Storytelling
SYLVANIA is our family and children’s creative area. There are a wide variety of fun, dance and educational sessions for all ages, and it’s also the home of our fabulous Forest School!
Elves & Fae 🧚
Our 2025 theme down at Sylvania are all things magic and fun, with Elves and Fae! The best kind of play is with imagination and nature, the same two things that so many of us love about the fantasy world of JRR Tolkein who was inspired by the rolling hills and mountains of Welsh landscape and mythology. Flutter your wings and wave your wands at our family-friendly, enchanting area!
Forest School 🌿
Sylvania is also the home of our Forest School and Nature Based Learning workshops. These sessions are mainly aimed at younger children 3-10 years of age. In 2024, we were joined by Saphire and Mac from Dare Valley Forest School, who are not only fantastic facilitators but also photographers! 👇
Drama 🎭
This year we have two BRAND NEW additions to Sylvania, bringing you theatrical performances and spell-binding shows for a range of ages to enjoy! Catch a sneak peak of what these fantastic artists do by clicking on the buttons below
‘Yara in the Wild Wood’ Puppet Show with Front Room Theatre
Yara is wild and free, but there’s more to these woods than the trees. An endearing tale of growing up, getting wiser and making unexpected friends. Front Room WsM offers a tale of friendship and adventure for all the family, featuring captivating puppetry, exquisite non-verbal storytelling, and spellbinding original music.
‘Blaidd’ Interactive Show with Flossy & Boo
Howl at the moon, run wild with your pack, Bound into the woods with the wind at your back, Adventure into the wilds unknown, Through forests of make believe to a place we call home! Blaidd is an interactive story for families, about rewilding ourselves and connecting with our roots. Flossy and Boo create imaginative and interactive work that looks at the world from an unconventional point of view.
Music 🎶
Cardiff band The Brwmys join us every day at Sylvania for a foot-stomping performance! If you’re around on our exclusive Kinfolk Thursday, you’ll get an extra chance to dance with them at the Niche stage too. Check out the video below to see a glimpse of their show at last year’s festival!
Dance 💃
Dance is a great fun way to express creativity and be active at the same time – we have various dance groups which run workshops and dance exhibitions through the day, stop by! This year, the epic Ballet Cymru and Hoop Girls join us once again for some fun, energetic activity.
Storytelling 📖
Journey with us through time and across the globe on a breeze of buzzing bees and the whispers of talking trees! Discover magical tales that span ages and continents with Tracy Firth. Ages 5-11, but everyone is welcome!
Creativity 🎨
There are art workshops for all ages inspired by nature such as land art, banner making and bug drawing. Whether playing with clay, painting, drawing, making or writing stories, we all have a creative inside of us to let explore!
For younger saplings, we have had a variety of activities over the years such as creating creatures in a puppet making workshop or tapping along in a drum circle and creating stunning visual arts.
