Festival N°6 (Festival Number 6) was an annual art and music festival held in and around
Portmeirion
Portmeirion (; ) is a folly*
*
* tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Dwyryd in the community (Wales), community of Penrhyndeudraeth, from Porthmadog and from Minffordd railway station. Portmeirion was d ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. The festival presented a wide range of music genres across multiple stages. It was advertised as a family-friendly festival, and as such various areas of the festival are targeted to families, such as "No.6's Mischief Meadow" for children and a designated family camping area. In 2013 one of the organizers stated that due to the size of the village the festival was not likely to grow beyond 10,000 attendees across the weekend.
In July 2018 the festival organisers announced that the festival would be taking an indefinite break.
Overview
The first event took place on 14 September 2012; around 6,500 people attended the festival.
It returned every year until 2018.
Village of Portmeirion
The festival takes place in
North Wales
North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
in the village of Portmeirion on the
Snowdonia
Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...
coast in the Welsh county of
Gwynedd
Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...
. The village location is composed of many edifices inspired by the architecture of an Italian coastal town. Portmeirion village was built between 1925 and 1978 by the architect Sir
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Military Cross, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate architecture, Italianate village of Portmeirion in North ...
. The festival takes place throughout the village, with the main music events located in adjacent fields; the typical Italian infrastructures show an atypical side of Portmeirion village which is part of the festival atmosphere. The music events and activities range from the Colonnade Gardens to the
River Dwyryd, from the Tanglewoods to the beach.
''The Prisoner''
The festival's name is based on the cult TV show ''The Prisoner'', which was filmed largely on location at Portmeirion. The main character is called "Number 6", and was played by the actor
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan (; March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009) was an Irish-American actor of film, television, and theatre. Born in New York City to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and England. He began his career in England during t ...
. In the series, Number 6 is a secret agent held as a prisoner in a
mysterious coastal village. This TV show is iconic of the village and made it famous internationally.
Art, culture and other activities
The N°6 Festival includes live music, poetry readings, comedy, talks and other cultural activities. The festival also includes a range of participative activities to complement the mainstream music events and develop differentiation from other music festivals. These have included "Giant Mind", "Urban Sketching", and "Extraordinary Bubbles".
The Slow Readers Club released a mini-album on 4 May 2018, recorded with
Joe Duddell at
Portmeirion Town Hall called ''Live From Festival No.6''.
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4.
As of August 2022, the stat ...
also regularly broadcast live from the festival, with DJs
Adam Walton
Adam Walton (born 17 April 1999) is an Australian professional tennis player. Walton has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 85 achieved on 31 March 2025. He also has a career high doubles ranking of No. 136 achieved on 4 March 2024 ...
and
Bethan Elfyn presenting shows from the site.
Artists
Since 2012 Festival N°6 has hosted hundreds of musical artists and many other artists performing comedy, talks or performance art. The 2012 festival was in partnership with Electric Elephant Festival. Artists that performed since 2012 have included:
Accommodation
During the event, Portmeirion's village offers visitors a limited availability of accommodation in the village itself. Visitors also have the possibility to make a reservation in hotels, bunk houses, cottages, camper vans, yurts, tipis and tents.
Controversy
Ticket prices in 2013 had almost doubled after the success of the first year.
In 2016, 200 people had to take shelter in a leisure centre in
Porthmadog
Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...
after the car park for the park-and-ride service flooded and cars became stuck. The organisers were condemned for putting the car park on a flood plain despite having been issued with flood warnings due to heavy rainfall.
References
External links
*
{{The Prisoner
Arts festivals in Wales
Tourist attractions in Gwynedd
The Prisoner
2012 establishments in Wales
Recurring events established in 2012