COMPILED BY HOWARD BRADBURY

Now until October 13

Dear Portrait is an exhibition featuring 20 international artists at Mostyn in Llandudno, Wales’s leading gallery of contemporary art. The difference here is that the subjects of the various portraits are given a voice to respond to the artist’s depiction of them, so the exhibition becomes an examination of the whole idea of what the portrait means.

www.mostyn.org

August 30 – September 1

It is possible to walk all the way around Anglesey on the spectacular coastal path. Or if you are very fit and a little bit masochistic, it is possible to run around the island - 131 miles and three days of thigh-burning ups and downs over rugged terrain. That’s the Ring O’ Fire, a coastal ultra-marathon which is among the toughest challenges in the UK.

www.ringofire.co.uk

September 6 and 7

Anglesey Beer Festival promises a dizzying array of real ales, served up at Wylfa Sports and Social Club at Cemaes Bay. It is a family-friendly festival, with children (accompanied by an adult, of course) welcome on the Saturday afternoon. Helping whet the thirst will be a programme of entertainment including the intriguingly-named Die Heilderberger Boys Oompah Band. Anglesey’s answer to Oktoberfest?

www.angleseybeerfestival.com

September 13

Conwy Honey Fair dates back a staggering 700 years to the reign of Edward I when local beekeepers were given the right to sell honey within the town’s walls every September 13 without charge. That right is enshrined in the town’s Royal Charter. Over the centuries, there have been good years and bad years for beekeepers. It was such a good year in 2003 that Conwy Beekeepers’ Association suggested there should also be a food festival for the town, and so another tradition, Gwledd Conwy feat (see below), was also born. The honey fair takes place in Conwy High street and Lancaster Square.

www.conwybeekeepers.org.uk

September 13 to 15

It’s billed as a ‘different type of festival’, and that’s what you would expect of any event in the magical setting of Portmeirion village. Festival No 6 has an eclectic musical bill featuring My Bloody Valentine, Manic Street Preachers, Chic with Nile Rodgers, Lianne La Havas and many more. But it also features the wit of John Cooper Clarke and wordsmiths including Paul Morley, DBC Pierre, Caitlin Moran and Mark Thomas. And there’s a roster of DJs including Frankie Knuckles, Carl Craig and Daddy G.

www.festivalnumber6.com

September 14

Steam trains and good old-fashioned whodunnits have always seemed to go together. Llangollen Railway continues that tradition with a murder mystery event set in 1932 amid what should otherwise be the peaceful setting of the Bumble Hollow Village Fete. Amateur detectives who really want to enter into the spirit of it will come in period dress. The £26-per-head ticket buys a return train journey, refreshments and, of course, a murder thrown in for good measure.

www.llangollen-railway.co.uk

September 15

The 12-acre country estate of Llanerch Park, St Asaph, is the venue for the St Asaph Car and Motorbike Show, featuring over 400 vehicles. A broad range of old automotives will include vintage, classic, American, vehicles, kit cars, commercial vehicles and motorbikes.

www.jgcarshows.co.uk

September 16 to 21

One of the nation’s best-loved actors Maureen Lipman comes to Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold to star in Daytona, a play by Oliver Cotton. Also in the cast is Harry Shearer, better known as the voice of Mr Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders and others in The Simpsons, and as bassist Derek Smalls in the still-funny 1984 ‘mockumentary’ This Is Spinal Tap Daytona sees Joe and Eli preparing for a ballroom dancing competition when the arrival of a figure from the past threatens to throw them off balance.

www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk

September 21

Bill Bailey’s latest show, Qualmpeddler, comes to Rhyl Pavilion. Our quizzical hero has always had doubts about the modern world, and now these have grown into qualms. Living in an age when the Mayans predicted the End of Days doesn’t help matters. He channels all these qualms through the medium of song, with the typically exotic fare running from religious dubstep to bouzouki folk music.

www.rhylpavilion.co.uk

September 21 and 22

Foodies beat a path to Mold for the annual food and drink festival, which last year tantalised the taste buds of 15,000 visitors. Over a hundred exhibitors are promised, including Snowdonia Cheese, Condessa Welsh Liqueurs, Castlemoor Farm Hogroast, Orchard Pigs, Gourmet Vinegars, North Wales Buffalo and more. Celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager appears on the Sunday and Saturday’s famous names will be Graham Tinsley and Brian Mellor.

www.moldfoodfestival.co.uk

September 16 to 21

Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers comes to Venue Cymru in Llandudno telling a familiar but stirring tale of twins separated at birth, living different lives but fated to come together.

www.venuecymru.co.uk

October 12 and 13

The Anglesey Oyster and Welsh Produce Festival is a small homely event featuring 40 quality food and drink producers from across Wales. Fresh oysters will be available from Menai Oysters, with champagne if you want to be really decadent. Other fare in the marquee at the Trearddur Bay Hotel will include lobster, crab, cider, chocolates, liqueurs, beer, preserves, meat, cakes savoury pies, cheese and more.

There will be cooking demonstrations by Welsh chef Melfyn Thomas, and the Anglesey Sausage Competition will be held on Sunday 13th October at 11am.

October 14 and 15

Jason Manford’s back doing what he does best, telling gags in his new-for-2013 First World Problems tour, coming to Venue Cymru, Llandudno.

www.venuecymru.co.uk

October 25-27

Gwledd Conwy Feast means that the medieval town is given over to food for the weekend, with 150 stalls, an outdoor market, busy beer tent and many of the shops plying wares to tantalise the taste buds. Techy gastronomes should know that this is the world’s first food festival to feature a mobile phone trail of food and drink heritage sites, with QR barcodes on over 50 points of interest around Conwy.

www.gwleddconwyfeast.co.uk