Buzz Magazine March 2014 | Page 5

STAGE WHEN ONE DOOR OPENS Families and children are the focus of Opening Doors, a festival based in Aberystwyth that incorporates theatre, poetry, and general silliness. There’s a pan-cultural feel to events as troupes from as far as America and Australia come to showcase their talents, and the theatre is as colourful as you’d hope from companies with names like Frantic Assembly and Theatre Hullaballoo. Big issues are tackled in lively ways that avoid the normal pitfalls of family theatre, and the festival promises that Fringe events will be taking place in the evenings – so there should be a feeling of the unexpected and the exciting in the air. The free-spirited nature of the festival can’t be contained in just one town so there are further performances around Wales, with events taking place in Neath, Carmarthen, Pontardawe, Cardigan and Lampeter. LW Various venues across South Wales, Tues 1-Fri 4 Apr. Info: www.agordrysau-openingdoors.org.uk EVENT AWARDING WALES To celebrate just how lovely we all are in Wales, 2014 sees the launch of the St David Awards. This time last year the First Minister Of Wales, Carwyn Jones, talked about the importance of acknowledging and rewarding the exceptional achievements of people from all walks of Welsh life and soon it will be so. Members of the public had the chance to nominate someone they know to be a good guy/gal who had made a significant contribution to life in Wales, is exceptional in their field and is an inspiring role model to others. A team of no less than 28 judges are have finished conferring and their shortlist of amazing people includes, among others, several brave police officers, an addiction counselor, a taekwondo olympian and a brass band. The final winners will be announced during a ceremony at the Royal Welsh College Of Music And Drama, Cardiff on Thurs 13 Mar. St David Award Citzenship finalisst Lara Cowpe EARTH HOUR Info: www.stdavidawards.org.uk EVENT Set up by The World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Earth Hour is an international project that sees capital cities, commercial organisations, and ancient monuments ‘going dark’ by shutting off all power for 60 minutes. The stunt, attempted for the first time in 2007 with outstanding results, aims to raise awareness of environmental issues and how much energy we use. Thanks to this most recent endeavour, there are now plenty of opportunities to get involved. On the Earth Hour website anyone can submit a project, which is then inserted into a pool where members of the public can contribute to the cause they consider the most worthy. Whether or not you agree with the methodology, the importance of the message promoted by the spectacle is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. And with Spiderman on-board as the world’s first superhero ambassador, you know it’s kosher... JS Various venues across South Wales, Sat 29 Mar. Admission: free. Info: www.earthhour.org pic: NICK TREHARN AND WWF CYMRU BUZZ 05