2024 brings storms, icy winds and frost on the ground. What better way to warm up than to dance to live music from your favourite band. And as luck has it, if Banda Bacana is one of your favourites, we’ll be playing in the north Wales area in February and March. See below for info. Don’t miss out! Brave the weather and bring in 2024 with a spring in your step. Book your ticket today!

Our gig at Betws y Coed Memorial hall was a great success. Thanks to the organisers and everyone who came who helped create such a fantastic atmosphere. We wish them well for future events.

Next we’ve been asked back to play at Criccieth Memorial Hall in 2024. Thank you to everyone who came last year and made the evening. We are very much looking forward to this year‘s gig on February 9 and hoping you will come and support your local Community hall.

We’ve also been invited to play at the Bangor music festival where we share a stage with Cardiff based Afro Cluster funk/afrobeat band fronted by MC Skunkadelic (aka Tumi Williams). The festival is run by Bangor University music department and has been a focus of new and experimental music, with opportunities for composers to present new works and work specially commissioned for the festival. In recent years, it has broadened the focus to include collaborations from the local community, and international artists.

Closer to home we will be playing in Llanberis at the Padarn Lake. We played there recently to a wonderful crowd of locals and visitors to the area, with guests sax player Mathew Bicknell and percussionist Colin Daimond. Thanks to the venue for inviting us back! Please note the venue is quite small with a limited number of tickets, so get in there quickly. Online booking will be available soon.

Bandabacana was founded in 2003 after a collaboration between Samba Bangor, Zé (Brazilian musician and producer) and our bass player Jon. 20 years later, we are still going strong: at our core, rhythm and grooves, and unique blend of harmonies from our horn section and singers, influences from bossa, blues, soul and ska, to rumba, reggae, highlife to afrobeat with a sprinkling of magic from the Welsh mountains. 

A 20th anniversary celebration this year? It would be rude not to… Watch this space! 

For updates and full details see our gigs and events page.

Photography: thanks to Gareth Wynne-Williams for photography in the photo montage on this post.