Brecon Tourist Information Jazz Festival Blues

Brecon Tourist Information

Brecon is the main centre as you enter the Brecon Beacons from the north. It's an attractive town with many Georgian buildings hinting at its past importance as a market town. Today, many of these attractively decorated buildings are hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. The town is a popular base from which to explore the Brecon Beacons National Park. It is most famous for hosting the annual jazz festival - one of the best in Europe.

There are some excellent views of the Usk Valley from the bridge crossing the River Honddu that gives the town its Welsh name, Aberhonddu (mouth of the river Honddu). Main sights in the town are the cathedral, the castle (now a hotel), the Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery, the Barracks & Museum, the Oriel Jazz Gallery and the Monmouth and Brecon Canal.

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Brecon Town Centre and Tourist Information

Brecon is a functional centre for the rest of the Brecon Beacons. It has an excellent Tourist Information Centre in the main car park. This has all the usual free information as well as books and gifts. One of the best things in the Tourist Information is the interactive displays that help you get your bearings in the National Park and find places to visit. There is a touch screen monitor that details the features of the different areas in the park. The interactive display tells you about the moorland and wildlife of the Brecon Beacons together with sounds of birds and animals. There is also a scale model of the park.

The town has a variety of shops with a lots of cafes, a few restaurants and lot of pubs including the popular Boar's Head, one of the three Breckonshire Brewery, CAMRA rated, pubs. There are outdoor shops and places where you can hire mountain bikes. The main attractions are all centred around the town. The Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery is a fantastic Victorian neoclassical building that used to be the Shire Hall on Captain's Walk near the town centre. It now houses a variety of exhibits on three floors including the dugout canoe found at Llangorse Lake that is thought to date from 800 AD, the preserved Victorian Assize Court - a courtroom drama set in 1880 brought to life with life-size models, light and sound, and a look at ancient Brecknock from prehistory through to the Dark Ages.

The town's cathedral stands above the River Honddu at Cathedral Close. It was founded by the Benedictine monastery of 1093 though there is little left of the Norman structure except the font and parts of the nave. Major rebuilding in the 13th and 14th centuries gives us largely what exists today. There is free parking for cathedral visitors adjacent to the cathedral and a Heritage Centre, shop and tea room on site. As you come into Brecon you'll probably notice the Norman castle on the banks of the River Usk. Only the tower and one of the walls now remain and have been incorporated into the Castle of Brecon Hotel. If you re into military history visit the South Wales Borderers Museum at The Barracks, home of the Royal Regiment for 120 years. The exhibition follows the story of the Royal Regiment of Wales that was based in Brecon. There is the usual military paraphernalia, but also some touching exhibits like the delicate embroidery made by soldiers in their spare time and a teddy bear found at Galipoli.

Brecon has the River Usk, River Honddu and the Monmouth and Brecon Canal running through it. The canal which goes from Brecon to Pontypool, once ferried coal, iron ore, limestone and agricultural goods - it is now navigable by pleasure boat traffic. The Brecon section is the busiest of the 33 miles that has been restored and opened. You can hire boats or take river cruises from Brecon.

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Brecon Jazz Festival

Brecon is probably most famed for its annual jazz festival that usually takes place on the second weekend of August. It attracts acts from all over the world. There are loads of opportunities to see acts in indoor and open air venues, night and day, performing anything from traditional jazz to something more experimental. The Festival attracts around 50,000 people over the 3 days which is covered by BBC TV and radio.

Obviously accommodation can be scarce at this time and congested traffic can make moving around a bit difficult.

And when the festival isn't in town, the Oriel Jazz gallery in Brecon explores the history of jazz with some great rare film footage. The gallery is on The Watton (a road) just down from the Breckonshire Museum. It's open daily 1pm-4pm and admission is free.

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