Dartmoor Tors Festival: Gwenno
Schedule
Sat, 02 May, 2026 at 07:30 pm
UTC+01:00Location
Ashburton Arts Centre | Newton Abbot, EN
Welsh-Cornish musician and former member of the indie-pop group The Pipettes, Gwenno is widely acclaimed for her Mercury Prize-shortlisted solo work performed in Welsh, Cornish, and English.Gwenno will be performing solo.
“Spacey, strange and richly melodic” The Guardian
Gwenno Saunders is a visionary artist whose eclectic career spans more than 25 years as a musician, songwriter, producer, and performer. Starting out with solo Welsh, Cornish, and English language EPs in the early 2000s, Gwenno went on to front indie-pop group The Pipettes before forging her path as a solo artist. Rooted deeply in her Welsh and Cornish heritage, Gwenno’s work champions minority languages and cultural identity. Singing in Cornish, Welsh, and English, she advocates passionately for language revival and community connection through music. Gwenno’s artistic journey reflects a commitment to place, history, and collective voice — using pop, experimental soundscapes, and performance to elevate languages and cultures at risk of being overlooked in a globalized world.
She has released four acclaimed solo albums: Y Dydd Olaf (winner of The Welsh Music Prize), Le Kov, Tresor (shortlisted for the 2022 Mercury Music Prize), and her latest, Utopia (2025) alongside two full-length records with The Pipettes. Utopia marks a new chapter, Gwenno’s first record sung predominantly in English exploring themes of self-determination, identity, and creative evolution. Recorded live with her band in her living room and produced with long-term collaborator Rhys Edwards, Utopia features lush, textured soundscapes and notable contributions from fellow Welsh musicians Cate Le Bon and H. Hawkline.
In addition to her recording career, Gwenno has composed new scores for theatre and film, including work for The Caucasian Chalk Circle with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru and a live score for Mark Jenkin’s BAIT showcased at BFI Southbank. A dynamic creative force, she also curates festivals such as CAM 15 + 18 and Festival of Voice at the Wales Millennium Centre, blending artistic expression with cultural engagement. Prior to her solo work, Gwenno was a principal dancer in Lord of the Dance and a chorus line dancer in Riverdance, the former of which led to her taking on the lead role at the New York New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas between 1998-2000.
Tickets £22 full price, £18 or £14 if you prefer. Please pay what you can, or pay less and come to more things! Book at wegottickets.com/ashburtonarts (+10% fee) or email [email protected] to reserve and pay on the door.
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Dartmoor Tors Festival 30 April – 4 May 2026
This is part of the second Dartmoor Tors Festival, happening at various places around Dartmoor. Tickets for festival events at Ashburton Arts Centre are all available at wegottickets.com/dartmoortorsfestival2026. All of the festival goings on are listed at dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk.
The daytime events at the Arts Centre generally last for an hour, with doors opening 15 minutes before the advertised start time.
The festival celebrates the culture of Dartmoor and explores our emotional connection with wild, ancient places. Artists, musicians, writers, archaeologists, campaigners and historians will be sharing their perspectives in a range of events including talks, walks, workshops, concerts and performances.
We kick off with the mesmerising Cole Stacey playing live at Ashburton Arts Centre on Thursday 30 April. On Friday night, 1 May, the thrilling dark folk band, Craven, will be playing, and on Saturday 2 May we have the Mercury Prize-nominated Gwenno. Throughout the weekend, from Friday 1 May through to Sunday 3rd there will be talks and conversations at the main venue, Ashburton Arts Centre, and at the Field System Gallery next door, covering everything from natural witchcraft, nature recovery, mythology and poetry to the visual arts. There will also be walks all over Dartmoor, taking in everything from archaeology to ancient legends, and birdsong to storytelling. There will be free events, including Morris dancing on the Saturday afternoon outside Ashburton Arts Centre and an exhibition at Field System Gallery. On Sunday afternoon, 3 May, the festival will culminate with a new community event, Gudula’s Gathering, incorporating a procession and a well-dressing, in which everyone is invited to take part.
For capacity reasons, all events are ticketed individually. Everything at Ashburton Arts Centre has three prices to suit different pockets – please pay what you can. Choose the lower-priced tickets if you want to attend lots of events. Everything happening at Ashburton Arts Centre can be booked via the links on this page; events elsewhere can be booked via the main festival website: dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk
See ashburtonarts.org.uk/access-booking-tickets-parking-finding-us for more about why there are three ticket prices, plus other useful info about coming to events at Ashburton Arts Centre. Level access from street – please contact us on [email protected] if a wheelchair space is needed, or if you have any other special requirements.
Where is it happening?
Ashburton Arts Centre, Newton Abbot, United Kingdom
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