What’s On in Wales This Weekend? Elvis, Food Festivals and a Step Back to the 1940s
IF you are looking for something to do in Wales this weekend, you are certainly not short of choices.
From thousands of Elvis fans descending on the Welsh coast to street food in Swansea and Cardiff, one of Wales’s longest-established food festivals in Pembrokeshire and an entire Powys town stepping back into the 1940s, the final weekend of September has rather a lot going on.
Here are five events that caught the Ewegottalove eye for 25–27 September, 2026.
Porthcawl Elvis Festival
Where: Porthcawl
When: Friday 25 – Sunday, 27 September
For one weekend every September, Porthcawl undergoes one of the more extraordinary transformations of any Welsh seaside town.
The quiffs get bigger. The jumpsuits get brighter. And Elvis Presley appears to be everywhere.
The Porthcawl Elvis Festival describes itself as the world’s largest celebration of The King, with around 150 performers appearing across hundreds of shows at venues throughout the town. Tens of thousands of visitors are expected over the weekend.
The official programme at the Showdome, Trecco Bay, includes the Best Festival Elvis competition, an Acoustic Elvis show and Sunday’s Elvis Gospel Show. The Grand Final is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, although several of the principal ticketed shows have already sold out.
But you certainly do not need a Showdome ticket to enjoy the atmosphere.
Pubs, clubs and venues around Porthcawl join in, performers appear throughout the town and visitors themselves have become an essential part of the spectacle.
Expect rhinestones. Expect sideburns.
And expect to hear Suspicious Minds more than once.
The King is Dead; Long Live The King: Full Event Preview
Big Food Festival, Swansea
Where: Museum Green, Swansea
When: Friday, 25 – Sunday, 27 September
Entry: Free, but advance free tickets are recommended
If your idea of a good weekend involves eating your way around the world without leaving Swansea, this may be the one.
The Big Food Festival takes over Museum Green beside the LC2 for three days, bringing together more than 20 hand-picked street-food and dessert traders.
The organisers deliberately avoid duplicating cuisines, meaning visitors can move from smoked meats and wood-fired pizza to Japanese-inspired food, Greek dishes and desserts without repeatedly encountering the same menus.
There will also be a full bar featuring Welsh and independent drinks brands, live entertainment and children’s activities.
The event is family-friendly and dog-friendly, and entry is free. Free tickets are being issued to help manage capacity. Current listings give opening hours of approximately 11am to 9.30pm across the weekend.
One warning from Ewegottalove: arriving hungry would probably be advisable.
Welshpool 1940s Weekend
Where: Welshpool
When: Friday 25 – Sunday 27 September
Meanwhile, Welshpool is preparing to turn the clock back more than 80 years.
The annual Welshpool 1940s Weekend brings re-enactors, wartime displays, vintage vehicles, music, dancing, military and civilian exhibits and classic cars into the Powys town centre.
Visitors are encouraged to dress in 1940s civilian or British military clothing, although costume is certainly not compulsory.
Among this year’s attractions are a full-size Spitfire, military vehicles and tanks, vintage traders and a lengthy programme of live entertainers including The Ronnies, Jeep Johnson, Harmony Belles and others.
There are also ticketed evening events, including live swing music and the traditional Blitz Ball.
Much of the daytime entertainment around the town remains free, although donations help support the event.
It is one of those weekends where simply wandering through Welshpool could prove almost as entertaining as following a formal programme.
Narberth Food Festival
Where: Town Moor, Narberth
When: Saturday 26 – Sunday 27 September
Entry: £7 adults on the day; under-16s free
One of the longest-running food festivals in Wales returns to Narberth for its 26th year.
The volunteer-run Narberth Food Festival celebrates Welsh food and drink with more than 40 producers and traders, chef demonstrations, tastings, live music, workshops and family entertainment.
The festival opens from 10am–6pm on Saturday and 10am–4pm on Sunday.
Adult admission is £7 on the day, while under-16s enter free. Early-bird day tickets costing £6 are available online until midnight on Thursday 24 September.
There are also two free Park & Ride services, with buses running from around 9.30am.
And because the festival sits at the top of Narberth High Street, it offers an obvious excuse to explore the town’s independent shops, cafés and restaurants at the same time.
Great Cardiff Feast – Autumn Edition
Where: Cardiff city centre
When: Thursday 24 – Sunday 27 September
Entry: Free
Cardiff gets its own food celebration this weekend with the Great Cardiff Feast – Autumn Edition.
The four-day event brings independent street-food traders, desserts, speciality coffee and entertainment into the city centre, with the festival running from Thursday through Sunday.
Entry is free and there is no requirement to buy a ticket, making this perhaps the easiest of our five selections to drop into while shopping or spending a day in Cardiff.
The autumn edition is centred around Queen Street, with food, drinks and afternoon entertainment. See below our Ewegottalove TikTok from the April version of the Great Cardiff Feast.
And if all that eating somehow leaves you wanting something else to do, Cardiff also has plenty happening around it this weekend, including Jane McDonald at Utilita Arena on Friday, Cardiff Devils ice hockey and the opening of Welsh National Opera’s La bohème on Sunday.
So where will you be this weekend?
That might depend largely on whether your ideal Saturday involves an Elvis jumpsuit, a plate of street food or standing beside a Spitfire.
What this weekend demonstrates rather nicely is the sheer variety of events taking place around Wales.
Porthcawl will be rocking and rolling.
Swansea, Narberth and Cardiff will be eating.
And Welshpool will apparently be somewhere around 1943.
Wherever you end up, have a good one.
Did Ewe Know?
The Porthcawl Elvis Festival began in 2004, originally as an event intended to help support the town’s Grand Pavilion. More than two decades later, it has developed into an internationally recognised celebration attracting Elvis fans and performers from far beyond Wales.