Mid Wales has a packed events calendar for such a rural area. A handful of big shows and festivals draw visitors from all over the UK, and in those weeks accommodation fills up, roads get busy, and marquees, toilets, generators and crew are in high demand. If you are planning an event of your own, it pays to know when those weeks fall.
Below are the main fixtures, with their 2026 dates as a guide to when they usually happen. Dates change from year to year, so always check with the organisers before you plan around them. We are not connected with any of these events; they are listed because of their effect on the region.
Month by month
| When | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Early May | Machynlleth Comedy Festival (1 to 3 May 2026) | Machynlleth |
| Late May | Hay Festival (21 to 31 May 2026) | Hay-on-Wye |
| June | Gregynog Festival | Gregynog Hall, Tregynon, near Newtown |
| Mid June | Man v Horse race (13 June 2026) | Llanwrtyd Wells |
| Late July | Royal Welsh Show (20 to 23 July 2026) | Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd, Builth Wells |
| Early August | Brecon Jazz Festival (6 to 9 August 2026) | Brecon |
| Mid to late August | Green Man Festival (20 to 23 August 2026) | Glanusk Park, near Crickhowell |
| Late August | Llandrindod Wells Victorian Festival | Llandrindod Wells |
| August bank holiday | World Bog Snorkelling Championships (30 August 2026) | Llanwrtyd Wells |
| Mid November | Mid Wales Beer Festival (13 to 22 November 2026) | Llanwrtyd Wells |
| Late November | Royal Welsh Winter Fair (30 November and 1 December 2026) | Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd |
On top of these, summer brings dozens of village carnivals, agricultural shows, sheepdog trials, fun runs and fetes, most of them on weekends between June and September.
The big ones in more detail
Royal Welsh Show, Llanelwedd
The Royal Welsh Show is the biggest event in the Mid Wales calendar. It runs for four days in late July on the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s 150-acre showground at Llanelwedd, across the river from Builth Wells. The same showground hosts the Royal Welsh Winter Fair at the end of November. If your event is anywhere near Builth Wells or Llandrindod Wells in show week, expect heavy traffic on the A470 and A483 and very little spare accommodation.
Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye
The Hay Festival of literature and the arts runs for around ten days at the end of May, spanning the late May bank holiday. Hay-on-Wye is a small town, so rooms for miles around are booked long in advance.
Green Man, near Crickhowell
Green Man is held at Glanusk Park near Crickhowell in Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons) in the second half of August. Festival builds of this size draw on production suppliers and crew from across the region in the weeks before and after.
Brecon Jazz, Brecon
Brecon Jazz has been running since the 1980s, and 2026 was its 42nd year. It runs over four days in early August, with ticketed concerts in venues across Brecon and free outdoor performances in the town centre.
Machynlleth Comedy Festival
Held over the early May bank holiday weekend, the Machynlleth Comedy Festival fills venues across Machynlleth and is often the first big weekend of the Mid Wales events season.
Gregynog Festival, near Newtown
Gwŵl Gregynog is held each summer at Gregynog Hall in Tregynon, a few miles from Newtown. It is described as the oldest surviving classical music festival in Wales, first held in the 1930s and running in its present form since 1988.
Llanwrtyd Wells and Llandrindod Wells
Llanwrtyd Wells is known for its unusual events, including Man v Horse in June, the World Bog Snorkelling Championships on the August bank holiday and the Mid Wales Beer Festival in November. At the end of August, Llandrindod Wells holds its Victorian Festival, with street entertainment, music, a fair and many people in period costume.
What this means for your own event
Book crew and suppliers early for July and August
Late July to the end of August is the busiest stretch of the year. Marquee companies, toilet and generator hire, staging suppliers and crew all get booked up. If your event falls in those weeks, aim to confirm suppliers several months ahead rather than several weeks.
Think about accommodation and travel
If performers, traders or crew need to stay overnight, check accommodation before you fix your date. In show and festival weeks, rooms near Builth Wells, Hay-on-Wye, Brecon and Crickhowell can be hard to find. Our guide to rural event logistics in Mid Wales covers travel times, rail links and mobile signal.
Avoid a clash if you can
A small event on the same weekend as a big festival nearby competes for visitors, volunteers, parking and police and council attention. Moving your date by a week can make a real difference.
Plan for the weather, whatever the month
Mid Wales weather can change quickly, especially in the hills. Have a plan for wind, heavy rain and heat, whatever time of year you choose. Our guide to planning for bad weather at outdoor events has a practical checklist.
Leave time for licences and road closures
Some permissions take weeks or months. A road closure in Powys needs at least ten weeks’ notice, for example. Our guide to licences, road closures and who to tell in Mid Wales sets out the timings by council.
Crew for your event, in any season
We supply event crew across Mid Wales and the borders, from Aberystwyth and Machynlleth to Welshpool, Builth Wells and Hay-on-Wye. If your event falls in a busy week, the sooner you get a quote, the easier it is for us to make sure the right crew are free. You can see what our crew cost in our guide to event crew costs in Mid Wales.
