From Machynlleth to Belgium and The Netherlands: Cerys Hafana live in March/April

Cerys Hafana is a Welsh triple harpist and composer who mangles, mutates and transforms traditional music into something startlingly new. Drawing on archival material, folk songs and psalms, found sounds and electronic processing — alongside their own original compositions — Cerys reshapes the past with a distinctly contemporary hand. They come from Machynlleth in mid Wales, where rivers and roads meet on the way to the sea, and that sense of confluence runs through their work.

Their debut album, Cwmwl (2020), introduced a singular voice in modern folk. Follow-up record Edyf cemented their reputation, earning a place in The Guardian’s Top Ten Folk Albums of 2022 and a shortlist nomination for the 2023 Welsh Music Prize. In January 2024, Cerys released The Bitter, an EP exploring English and Scottish folk songs, before marking two years since Edyf with Crwydro in September 2024 — a reflective EP of solo piano pieces that further expanded their soundworld.

Cerys has carried their boundary-pushing harp across Europe, performing at festivals including Festival Interceltique de Lorient (FR), Green Man, Reeperbahn (DE), Other Voices (IE), WOMAD, End of the Road, Rudolstadt (DE) and Trans Musicales (FR). They have supported artists such as Charlie Cunningham, Adwaith, Andrew Wasylyk and Yann Tiersen, and toured with leading classical ensemble Sinfonia Cymru in early 2024. Live sessions for BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio 3, Radio Wales and Radio 4 have further showcased their ability to inhabit tradition while quietly upending it.

This month, Cerys brings their mesmeric live show to Belgium for a series of scheduled performances, with a newly added festival appearance in The Netherlands set for April — the next chapter in an ever-widening journey that continues to reimagine what the triple harp can be.