Upcoming Dylan Events

Dylan’s 110th Birthday – Open House – October 27th​ 2024

The Thomas family moved into the new house at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in August 1914 and Dylan was born in the front bedroom on 27th October that year. The family lived at the house for 23 years and during that time Dylan wrote two thirds of his published work mostly penned in his tiny bedroom – his first and most important Writing Room.

We can only speculate what Dylan and his friends might have done to celebrate his birthdays in the house but we do have an account of a birthday party that his daughter, the late Aeronwy, attended as a ten year old. Spam and Marmite sandwiches were on the table along with orange pop, Welsh cakes and a birthday cake covered in Smarties.

You are invited to join us to mark the 110th anniversary of Dylan’s birth and sample some party food. If you would like to read a poem, tell us a story, sing a song or just have a nose around you are very welcome. Entrance is free of charge but we please book a place online so we can manage numbers.

We will also be opening an exhibition of prints of a stunning book of illustrations of Under Milk Wood by Bonnie Hawkins. Bonnie will at the Birthplace at different points during the day. Tickets for the evening event are available below – where Bonnie will be in conversation with broadcaster and Dylan expert Alun Gibbard about the fascinating new book of incredible images illustrating Dylan’s famous work.

Launch of Under Milk Wood – Illustrated by Bonnie Hawkins – October 27th​ 2024

Join us for our first Parlour event of the autumn when we welcome artist Bonnie Hawkins who will be in conversation with broadcaster and Dylan expert Alun Gibbard about the fascinating new book of incredible images illustrating Dylan’s famous work.

This is the ultimate ‘coffee table’ book for Dylan enthusiasts and a signed limited edition would make a perfect present.

Joining them and performing for the first time in the parlour will be two great south Wales poets and writers. 12 years ago Laura Sheldon launched her book Mr Mahli’s Shed: And a Ghost Named Dylan at the Birthplace and her return is long overdue. Joining Laura will be Sarah Persson whose first poetry collection A Silver Lining was published recently 

The event will take in the front parlour of The Dylan Thomas Birthplace. In person tickets are limited. You can also buy tickets to watch the live stream via Zoom.

A Child’s Christmas in Wales – December 14th​ 2024

Christmas in the Front Parlour of the Dylan Thomas Birthplace

Experience the magic of Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales in the very room that inspired it. While this beloved tale is performed in theatres, church halls, and schools across the globe, there is only one place that truly captures its essence – the parlour of Dylan’s childhood home. Join us for an unforgettable live performance in Swansea.

Step into the heart of Dylan’s world as we take you on a nostalgic journey through Christmases of old, in the very setting where the story was born. You’ll be transported to a time of snowy days and whimsical memories, where Dylan himself pondered, “whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve, or twelve days and twelve nights when I was six…”

This is more than a reading; it’s a unique experience. Imagine where the fat uncles slumbered after Christmas dinner, snoring away, while the thin aunts tiptoed about, sipping parsnip wine and getting delightfully tiddly because, after all, “it was only once a year…”

Adding to the festive cheer, the Cwmdonkin Ukes ukulele band will perform a wonderful selection of Christmas classics for you to sing along to. Christmas jumpers or festive outfits are encouraged!

Tickets sell fast for this much-loved event, and this will be your only chance to witness Mrs Prothero’s famous turkey fire, and those mischievous cats!

Date: 14th December 2024
Time: 6.30pm for a 7pm start
Location: The Dylan Thomas Birthplace, Swansea (also available on Zoom)

Other Upcoming Events

Dates to be confirmed – Live and on Zoom. Jack Jones – lead singer of Trampolene comes fresh from Glastonbury to launch his new solo album of music and spoken word at the Birthplace. To pre-book tickets drop us an email CONTACT US

Later in the year Steve Balsamo on a life in music and the book launch of Christy Gillespie’s mammoth tome about a valley in Donegal which has four chapters about Dylan’s short stay there including some new and unpublished information and photographs.

Wreath laying at Westminster Abbey Due to circumstances beyond our control there will not be a ceremony this year but we hope to return in 2025 which is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Richard Burton.

Dylan Day 2025 Some very special events are coming your way on & around May 14th 2025

Throughout the Year – call for expressions of interest Exhibitions of art on a Dylan or Swansea theme including work by professional artists and photographers. We’ve just finished an exhibition of photographs on a Dylan theme for talented University of Wales student James Peaple.

Are you a musician or poet looking to add a prestigious venue to your CV? Or if you know of an artist or creative who would like to take advantage of an exhibition or event – we’d love to hear from you.

Past Events at Dylan’s

Gypsy Jazz – Afternoon in Paris with Mike Hatchard – August 17th​ 2024

Live in the Parlour – Gypsy Jazz – Afternoon in Paris with Mike Hatchard

Conversation, music, & storytelling!

Enjoy Gypsy Swing Jazz combo of Susanna and Jeremy in a special evening where they will be joined by pianist, composer and raconteur Mike Hatchard.  

Afternoon in Paris are one of our favourite bands, and for this special one off event the duo are joined by Mike Hatchard for an evening of the kind of music made famous by Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France. Latin rhythms, cheeky quotes and vocals in several languages (including Welsh!) all combine to give them an unique, accessible and widely appealing sound.

And to get you in the mood we have nibbles and a celebration Llareggub Beer from local brewers Tomos and Lilford. Unfortunately not available to Zoom ticket holders!!

The event will take in the front parlour of The Dylan Thomas Birthplace. in person tickets are limited. You can also buy tickets to watch the live stream via Zoom.

August 17th 2024 6.30pm for a 7pm start. 

Do Not Go Gentle – Dylan Thomas in Words, Art, & Music
The Birthplace on the Road
Llantwit Major Town Hall & Online
Saturday 20th July 2024 6.30pm for a 7pm start

Birthplace on the Road: Conversation, Poetry, Music, Storytelling

Join authors Alun Gibbard and Phil Caradice as they host an evening of conversation, poetry, music and storytelling at the historic Llantwit Major Town Hall.

The Birthplace has joined forces with the Llantwit Major Writing Group for an evening of Conversation, Poetry, Music and Storytelling in celebration of Dylan Thomas. Led by the redoubtable authors and broadcasters Alun Gibbard and Phil Carradice it promises to be an evening to satisfy all tastes. Alun and Phil reminisce about their involvement in sharing Dylan in television, theatre and print.

After her ‘Discovered at Dylan’s’ performance in the Birthplace parlour in May we are delighted to welcome back the 17 year old Swansea valley singer/songwriter Laila Woodward to perform live. Laila’s first album Hidden Blue was released on Sleepy Town Records in April. Laila is under the wing of Steve Balsamo and Rich Thair of Future Blood and Grand Ambitions and is fast gathering a reputation on the south Wales music scene.

There will be an exhibition by artist Bonnie Hawkins of her stunning pencil drawings of characters from Under Milk Wood which are soon to be published in book form.

Llantwit Major Writing Group recently spent a morning exploring the Dylan Thomas Birthplace and members will perform some of the pieces which were inspired by that visit.

The event will take place at the Grade 2* listed Llantwit Major Town Hall which was originally a Norman Baronial Hall. It will also be streamed online.

This event offers something for everyone, and with tickets limited make sure you secure yours today.

Book Launch: Unjudging Love: The Enigma of Dylan Thomas by Josh Brown
Friday 17th May 2024 6.30pm for a 7pm Start

More has been written about Dylan Thomas than any other poet, yet the story told is flawed – masking a towering genius of modern poetry: the original stand up poet, rock star, rap star and media innovator who needs to be extricated from cliché and distortion.

No poet other than Shakespeare is better known and none more poorly known than Dylan Thomas – trapped in fantasy and falsehood. Welsh Bard, Rockstar Poet, Insult to Wales, Lechurous womaniser, Bar Room Buffoon, Teller of Tales, Liar, Scrounger, Boozer, a cut price Welsh Rimbaud who drank himself to death.

Josh Brown’s in depth assessment is part biography, part literary analysis which reveals the true Dylan Thomas – a compassionate Welshman in his own words “I hold a beast, an angel and a madman in me…”

The book will be launched in the house where Dylan lived for 23 years and wrote two thirds of his published work.
To mark the occasion Josh will be in conversation with Alun Gibbard Live in the Parlour and on Zoom.

Joining Josh – as part of Discovered at Dylan’s – will be the amazing 17-year-old singer/songwriter Laila Woodward whose first album Hidden Blue was released on Sleepy Town Records in April. Laila is fast gathering a reputation on the South Wales music scene with her organic and hypnotic live show with haunting vocals and calming melodies reflecting the beauty and darkness experienced when growing up in the Welsh Valleys.

Make sure you BOOK NOW as our events sell out quickly, with Live in the Parlour tickets including a chance to explore the Birthplace.

From Linz to Langland – A journey with Ludwig Wittgenstein
Friday 26th April 2024 6.30pm for a 7pm Start

In every field there are standout personalities and in the world of philosophy the Austrian born Ludwig Wittgenstein stands supreme. Wittgenstein came from a wealthy family of Jewish descent, and was born in Vienna 135 years ago, six days after his fellow school pupil in Linz Adolf Hitler.

We are proud to present The Cwmdonkin Players in a rehearsed reading of a new play about his time in Swansea between 1942 and 1947.

During a key time in his life the renowned philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein spent a number of years in Swansea. This rehearsed reading of a new play by philosophy lecturer Dr Alan Sandry of Swansea University dramatises that time when he lived in lodgings in Langland and also 50m from the Birthplace in Cwmdonkin Terrace. The 135th anniversary of his birth see the premiere of From Linz to Langland so join us live in the parlour or on Zoom worldwide to enjoy a snapshot of the great man’s stimulating and productive time in Swansea.

Alan has drawn on contemporary accounts and previously unused documents to paint a picture of Wittgenstein’s time in Swansea.

This is not a dry academic work but a play with humour and lightness perfect for the philosopher, student and the curious to gain an insight into the great man’s stimulating time in Swansea.

Would he have bumped into Dylan who was researching his radio broadcast Return Journey during that time?

A Child’s Christmas in the Parlour – Wednesday 13th December 2023 – 6.30pm to a 7pm start

You can see A Child’s Christmas in Wales performed all over the world in theatres, church halls and schools but there is only one place which inspired the story and is the setting for a very, very special performance – live in the parlour and on Zoom worldwide.

Step into the heart of Dylan’s childhood as you take a trip down memory lane or imagine Christmases years ago while listening to the most famous and timeless Christmas story of modern times. And you do so in the house – in the room – about which it was conceived. Where the author couldn’t remember “…whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or twelve days and twelve nights when I was six…“!

Adrian Metcalfe of the Lighthouse Theatre Company will bring alive A Child’s Christmas in Wales in the front parlour of the Dylan Thomas Birthplace and there will also be traditional seasonal refreshments as well as extra goodies, Christmas songs and Christmas items to purchase.

Join us in the Dylan Thomas Birthplace for a unique experience – imagine where the fat uncles sat down after Christmas dinner, fell asleep and snored while the thin aunts tiptoed around sipping parsnip wine and getting a bit tiddly because “...it was only once a year...”

A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas is published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson and performed by kind permission of the copyright holders The Dylan Thomas Trust. Copies of the latest edition will be on sale on the night.

Also getting into the Christmas spirit will be the Cwmdonkin Ukes ukelele band with a great selection of Christmas sing along songs. Christmas jumpers a must!!!

Each year tickets sell very quickly and this will be your only chance to marvel at Mrs Prothero’s turkey fire and cats! The evening performance is 6.30 for 7.00pm and also includes an opportunity to explore the house.

18th November 2023 – Wreath laying at Westminster Abbey 
COVID has prevented us from holding this event for the past three years so the 70th anniversary of Dylan’s death takes on special significance.

Saturday 4th November 2023 – The front parlour will host the first performance for twenty years of Michael Stimpson’s Song Cycle for Dylan for baritone and harp featuring Gareth Brynmor John and the official harpist to the Prince of Wales – Alis Huws. This is the only performance in the UK before performances in New York.

27th to 29th October 2023 – Clear your diary for two weeks for The Beginning Festival featuring visiting choirs, the Dylan Thomas Society hosting of a three day Swansea wide conference with the Thomas Hardy Society over Dylan’s birthday weekend. The following weekend there is a very special performance in the front parlour of Michael Stimpson’s song cycle for baritone and harp – Dylan – featuring the Prince of Wales harpist Alys Huws.

LAUNCH OF ‘FORTY POEMS FOR DYLAN’ BY ROGER STENNETT PLUS MUSIC FROM LORRAINE KING

Wednesday 14th June 2023 – 6.30pm for a 7pm start

Roger Stennett is an author, poet, script writer and a whole lot more. He is also the son of Welsh actor and comedian Stan Stennett so expect some laughs as he talks to Alun Gibbard about his poetry collection Forty Poems for Dylan Thomas which chart the life of Dylan and also of his own which saw him immersed in the theatre at a young age.

It’s great to welcome back folk singer Lorraine King who always sets the parlour alight with her original songs. Expect some stories as she talks with Alun about the play he wrote and for which she and the group Osian composed the music. More recently she has appeared on the Roy Noble Radio Wales Show with her unique compositions Number Five Cwmdonkin Drive, Travelling on the A470 and Undy (don’t ask!!!!)

Join us either in person in the Birthplace Parlour, or live on Zoom.

THE NINE LIVES OF TOM CAT

Thursday 8th June 2023 – 6.30pm for a 7pm start
The first performance of a brand new play. When Chris Tally Evans started to develop his new play, the Swansea born actor and director, vowed to use the Birthplace to give added inspiration to the development of the play.

Thanks to support from the Arts Council of Wales, Chris and playwright Richard Hurford (yet another Swansea born creative who now lives in Sheffield), are staging a residency to develop this script, exploring the backstory of Captain Cat, the much loved blind character from Under Milk Wood in the Dylan Thomas Birthplace in Swansea. A group of creative practitioners, digital artists, movement director, and dramaturge converge for a week and present a live and streamed worldwide event on the 9th June.

This is yet another ‘first’ for the house where Dylan lived for 23 years and wrote two thirds of his published work.

Join us either in person in the Birthplace Parlour, or live on Zoom.

DYLAN DAY DELIGHT

Sunday 14th May 2023 – 6.30pm for a 7pm start
We continue our year long celebration marking 70 years of Under Milk Wood by exploring two of the most innovative versions of Dylan’s famous work.
May 14th is International Dylan Thomas Day and it is the 70th anniversary of the first performance of Under Milk Wood at 92Y in New York. To commemorate it we have no one but TWO Under Milk Woods live in the Birthplace Parlour & on Zoom…

The making of the animated version of Under Milk Wood, PLUS Cerys Matthews’ version for children.

calon.tv: Back in 1982 the first commission from the new Welsh language TV channel S4C went to calon.tv to produce an animated version of Under Milk Wood. This ambitious project involved the production of thousands of unique images. Robin Lyons and Andrew Ofilier from calon.tv will join Alun Gibbard in the parlour to talk about the making of the film featuring Richard Burton and the cast of the original BBC production, with loads of original images which will later be available for sale. Following UMW the calon.tv team went on to create Super Ted and Fireman Sam as Wales led the European animation industry.

Cerys Matthews: From 1982 we come bang up to date with Alun in conversation with singer and broadcaster Cerys Matthews over Zoom about how she conceived and produced a children’s version of Under Milk Wood. Cerys, former lead singer of Catatonia and now successful author and broadcaster with her own Sunday morning programme on BBC Radio 6 Music. Cerys is a long time friend of the Birthplace, having recorded the opening sequences of her BBC2 programme My Life in Verse in the Birthplace many years ago.
“It’s a precious experience – stepping into Dylan Thomas’ shoes – entering the house where he was born, standing in the rooms where he wrote some of his most intense poems. As for staying the night? There, overlooking Cwmdonkin Park? Unbelievable!”

The evening will end with a unique showing of the animated version of Under Milk Wood.

Join us either in person in the Birthplace Parlour, or live on Zoom for this unique celebration of International Dylan Thomas Day.

POETS IN THE PARLOUR- THE LAUNCH OF WHERE SHADOWS STIR’ BY SWANSEA’S BYRON BEYNON

Tuesday 28th February 2023 – 6.30pm for a 7pm start

This is the start of a special year. Dylan Thomas passed away tragically at the age of 39 on 9th November 1953. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of his death the Birthplace and the Dylan Thomas Society are curating a year long series of events culminating in a wreath laying ceremony at Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.

It is fitting that our first event from the famous front parlour – home of A Child’s Christmas in Wales – is the launch of a new book – Where Shadows Stir – by the acclaimed Swansea poet Byron Beynon – live in the parlour and on Zoom worldwide.

Byron will be supported by not one but FIVE Swansea poets brought together by publisher and poet Peter Thabit Jones
Poets:
Christopher Norris
Rebecca Lowe
Julie-Anne Grey
Steve Grey
Jill Goodwin-Croke.

Byron has an impressive list of publications of poems and short stories and this is his first for the Seventh Quarry Press.

For each event that we put on tickets go quickly so book NOW to avoid disappointment The event is 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start and refreshments are available in the Birthplace (sorry no delivery service if you are on Zoom!)

A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES

December 20th 2022 – 6.30pm for a 7pm start

Christmas in the Front Parlour of the Dylan Thomas Birthplace
Step into the heart of Dylan’s childhood as you take a trip down memory lane or imagine Christmases years ago while listening to the most famous and timeless Christmas story of modern times – A Child’s Christmas in Wales – and your magical trip takes you into the house – in the room – about which it was conceived. Where the author couldn’t remember “…whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or twelve days and twelve nights when I was six…”!

Adrian Metcalfe of the Lighthouse Theatre Company will bring alive A Child’s Christmas in Wales in the front parlour of the Dylan Thomas Birthplace. Join us online in the parlour for this unique experience – imagine where the fat uncles sat down after Christmas dinner, fell asleep and snored while the thin aunts tiptoed around sipping parsnip wine and getting a bit tiddly because “…it was only once a year…”

A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas is published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson and performed by kind permission of the copyright holders The Dylan Thomas Trust

Also getting into the Christmas spirit will be the Cwmdonkin Ukes ukulele band with a great selection of Christmas favourites that you can sing along to wherever you are.

Each year tickets sell very quickly and this will be your only chance to marvel at Mrs Prothero’s turkey fire and cats! The performance is 6.30pm for 7pm stat. Zoom joining details will be emailed to you shortly before the event

4th November (6.30pm) – Launch of The Two Dylans

Jeff Towns in conversation with Alun Gibbard. Live in the parlour and on zoom

Join us for our first parlour event of the Autumn when we welcome author and antiquarian bookseller Jeff Towns who will be in conversation with broadcaster and Dylan expert Alun Gibbard about the fascinating new book about The Two Dylans – BOB DYLAN and DYLAN THOMAS

As the ultimate Rock ‘n’ Roll Poets, BOB DYLAN and DYLAN THOMAS represent two sides of the same coin. Bob Dylan made the music. Dylan Thomas lived the lifestyle. Both perfected the art of performed literature. Bringing together two of the foremost writers on each artist for the first time, THE TWO DYLANS takes us on a literary and literal path taken by Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas.

There are so many strange and wonderful connections and coincidences; shared passions and associations that tie these two cultural icons – BOB DYLAN and DYLAN THOMAS together. This provides a rich tapestry – from the ancient Welsh folk tales of the Mabinogion to the poems of the Beat Generation; from Stravinsky to John Cale; from Johnny Ray to Charlie Chaplain. Rimbaud and Lorca, Sgt Pepper and The Bells of Rhymney, Nelson Algren and Tennessee Williams and much more.

Joining them and performing for the first time in the parlour will be the local folk duo Crow Hollow – Tony Webb and Rebecca Lowe – with their tribute to Bob Dylan

As well as being live in the parlour we also will be beaming it worldwide on Zoom so if you are a fan of one or both of the Dylans this is a ‘must go to’ event if it is our parlour or your own front room!

October 27th 2022 (1pm to 5pm) – Dylan’s 108th Birthday

We had an Open House to celebrate Dylan’s birthday.
We can only speculate what Dylan and his friends might have done to celebrate his birthdays in the house, but we do have an account of a birthday party that his daughter, the late Aeronwy, attended as a ten year old. Spam and Marmite sandwiches were on the table along with orange pop, Welsh cakes and a birthday cake covered in Smarties.
So why not come along – taste some party food, read a poem, sing a song or just have a sneak look around the house – it’s free but in true Dylan style we have a donation box. 1pm to 5pm.

Past Events in & around Swansea

COOL JAZZ AND THE SPOKEN WORD – Wednesday 1st May 2024 – King Arthur Hotel, Reynoldston From 6.30pm

Relax with a drink at your table and dine or snack to ‘dinner jazz’ played by one of the finest jazz trios in Wales until 8pm and then listen to a selection of clever words and music by virtuoso jazz saxophonist Alan Barnes. With readings by TV personality Sian Lloyd honouring the 70th anniversary of Dylan’s Under Milk Wood including an excerpt of Stan Tracey’s Under Milk Wood Jazz Suite.

Tickets: Gower Festival

A CELEBRATION OF WELSH COMPOSERS – Saturday 4th May 2024 – All Saint’s Church, Oystermouth

The Rhondda Symphony Orchestra with soloists Claire Jones (former Prince of Wales harpist) and Mark Llewellyn Evans featuring a new piece ‘Dylan’ by Chris Marshall and works including Karl Jenkins and Daniel Jones. Also at St Elvans Church, Aberdare on Saturday18th May.

Tickets: Buy Tickets Online.

DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE AWARD – Thursday 16th May 2024 – Taliesin Theatre, Singleton Campus, Swansea

Which one of the six shortlisted authors will win the most important prize for young authors in the world?