Fforest Fawr UNESCO Geopark Festival 20th Anniversary Programme
Join us for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of establishing Fforest Fawr UNESCO Geopark in Bannau Brycheiniog. On Saturday 27 September 2025, the Visitor Centre will host geology and archaeology stalls, expert talks and a walk, to officially open the festival. Following that, there are activities on different days in various locations, offering something for everyone. Please see below for the full festival programme and booking links.
By purchasing tickets for our festival, you’re not just joining in the celebration – you’re helping to care for this special landscape and share in its stories. Your support goes directly into important projects such as the development of new Geopark trails for everyone to enjoy. Thank you for being part of it.
Amongst those providing displays and/or hands on activities at the Mountain Centre on the first Saturday are:
- South East Wales RIGS Group & South Wales Geologists’ Association
- Heneb – the archaeology trust for Wales
- Russell Society – minerals in your smartphone
- Natural Resources Wales
- Friends of the Brecon Beacons / Brecon Beacons Tramroads project (Roy Manning & Charina Jones)
Those expected to be present at Craig-y-nos Country Park over the second weekend of the festival on 11/12 October are:
- South East Wales RIGS Group & South Wales Geologists’ Association (Sunday only)
- Heneb – the archaeology trust for Wales (Saturday only)
- Russell Society – minerals in your smartphone (Sunday only)
- Swansea University Geoscience Society
- Friends of the Brecon Beacons / Brecon Beacons Tramroads project (Roy Manning & Charina Jones)
Thursday, 25 September 2025
Social Walk from YHA Brecon Beacons – SOLD OUT
As part of YHA’s Festival of Walking, help us celebrate 20 years as a UNESCO Geopark as we explore two dramatic cwms set in Craig Cerrig Gleisiad, a national nature reserve.
Saturday, 27 September 2025 (12.15pm)
A Brief History of Fforest Fawr Geopark. Part 1: Rocky Underpinnings
Expert Talk at Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Visitor Centre (Mountain Centre)
Geopark Officer, Alan Bowring will be our guide as we journey through 470 million years, tracing the origin in ‘deep time’ of the rocks which make up our ‘layer-cake’ landscape.
Saturday, 27 September 2025 (1.30pm – 4.30pm)
Iron and Ice – Ages Past
Guided Walk from Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Visitor Centre (Mountain Centre)
Join experienced local geologist Alan Bowring for a northerly circuit across Mynydd Illtud from the National Park Visitor Centre to Twyn y Gaer Iron Age Hillfort. Explore the legacies of the last glacial period and those of people of this landscape over the last 2,500 years, as well as the sweeping views of the surrounding mountains.
Sunday, 28 September 2025 (12.30pm)
A Brief History of Fforest Fawr Geopark (Part II: The Icing on Top)
Expert Talk at Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Visitor Centre (Mountain Centre)
Geopark Officer, Alan Bowring will explore how our ‘layer-cake’ landscape has fared during the last few hundred thousand years, as glaciers and landslips put the finishing touches to this place.
Sunday, 28 September 2025 (1.30pm)
Bogs, Romans and more
Guided Walk from Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Visitor Centre
Join Alan Bowring, an experienced local geologist, for this walk on the southerly circuit around Mynydd Illtud from the National Park Visitor Centre to Traeth Mawr, visiting standing stones and a mysterious leat, Sarn Helen and a saint’s grave.
Friday 3 October 2025
Brecon Beacons Park Society – Upper Hepste Walk
Leisurely moorland walk looking at the geological and archaeological heritage of a less visited corner of the Geopark.
Saturday 4 October 2025
Heneb Heritage & Archaeology Day – Bannau Brycheiniog National Park
Attend this event at the Henderson Hall at Talybont-on-Usk to explore the fascinating archaeological heritage of mid and south-east Wales with out experts. Hosted by Heneb – the archaeology trust for Wales – and the Brecon Beacons Park Society.
Monday, 6 October
International Geodiversity Day
This day was established by UNESCO to celebrate the wealth of rocks and geological processes that have shaped, and indeed continue to shape the landscape.
Saturday, 11 October 2025 (10.30am)
Brecon Beacons Tramroads Project
Expert talk in Hibbert Room, Craig-y-nos Country Park
Join Roy Manning, Brecon Beacons Park Society, who will share his knowledge and passion for these key transport systems, and how recent partnership work is allowing us to survey and record this part of our history.
Saturday, 11 October 2025 (11.15am)
Cribarth & Craig-y-nos in Deep Time
Expert Talk in Hibbert Room, Craig-y-nos Country Park
Discover the evolution of our landscape with Geopark Officer, Alan Bowring. Travelling back in time, we will explore the lasting impact of the industrial exploitation of Cribarth’s mineral riches.
Alan will be joined afterwards by Jeff Alexander, author of the recently published ” Cribarth: The Giant Awakes ” for a Q&A session. Please see the walk in the afternoon as a follow on from this event.
Saturday, 11 October 2025 (1pm – 4.30pm)
A Cribarth Circuit
Guided Walk from Craig-y-nos Country Park
Alan Bowring, experienced local geologist, will be joined by guest expert Jeff Alexander, for this exploration of the extraordinary hill which rears above Craig-y-Nos; the rockiest ridge in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. Faults and folds, ice and industry have all played their part in shaping it.
Witness miles of old tramroads as they thread through a unique landscape pitted with shakeholes and old quarries – this walk is not to be missed!
Sunday, 12 October 2025 (11.30am)
Karst, Caves, Crags and Kilns
Expert Talk in Hibbert Room, Craig-y-nos Country Park
Uncover the limestone landscapes of Fforest Fawr Geopark in this Expert Talk with Geopark Officer, Alan Bowring. Some of the UK’s longest and deepest caves lie beneath our hills whilst thousands of holes adorn their surface. Most are natural, some are man-made; all have a story.
Sunday, 12 October 2025 (2pm-4pm)
Wealth of Water
Guided Walk from Craig-y-nos Country Park
Join experienced local geologist, Alan Bowring, for an introduction to a part of Cwm Tawe (Swansea Valley) very much shaped by rivers of water and of ice. There is a story behind every hump and every hollow in the landscape – we’ll explore quite a few on this gentle circular walk!