A POWYS firm has stepped in to rescue a popular music and entertainment venue that operates during Royal Welsh Show week.

Severn Valley Events will take on responsibility for the former Young People's Village (YPV) this summer, with the venue set to be rebranded as the SV Arena – offering entertainment and accommodation for young people and families.

The SV Arena will be located on the same site as the YPV had been during many previous Royal Welsh Shows, at Court Farm, just outside Builth Wells, and just several hundred metres up the A483 from the showground in Llanelwedd.

Sam Mumford, SV Arena’s events manager, said: “SV Arena are delighted to have acquired the land at Court Farm by kind permission of the Kinsey family.

“SV arena will be a great venue for families and young people to stay over the course of the Royal Welsh Show week. They will be able to enjoy live entertainment and socialise in our SV Social area.”

Wales Farmer: Previous organisers of the entertainment venue the Young People's Village, at Court Farm, Wales YFC, offered a scaled down version in 2022 and said costs were behind the reason to cancel it this year Previous organisers of the entertainment venue the Young People's Village, at Court Farm, Wales YFC, offered a scaled down version in 2022 and said costs were behind the reason to cancel it this year (Image: Phil Blagg)

Previous organisers of the Young People's Village at the Royal Welsh, the Wales Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, in January announced that it had decided to cancel this year’s village, which every year attracts more than 4,500 people from around the UK.

Wales YFC said that the cost-of-living crisis has heavily impacted the fees for running the camping and entertainment zone – which offered a scaled back version last summer as the popular Royal Welsh Show returned for the first time in three years due to coronavirus – so a decision had been taken to cancel it for 2023.

The SV Arena will be the new venue over the course of Royal Welsh Show week – which takes place this year from Monday, July 24, to Thursday, July 27 – and will have two caravan sites, one for young people and the other for families.

There will also be camping areas and organisers will be offering two stages with entertainment, as well as providing shuttle buses to and from the site to the showground.

In a statement, they added: “SV Arena will be working closely with the Royal Welsh Show, we are hoping that this will encourage people to visit the showground and get more involved with the show itself throughout the day.

“Our night-time entertainment arena will see the return of the big-top arena, playing host to live music throughout the evening and some fun themed nights that we have planned.

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“We are glad to be running this event, it was a big concern to a lot of local authorities as to where the young people would be going and staying during show week; SV Arena provides this venue for them.”

Newtown entrepreneur Aled Woosnam, managing director of Severn Valley Events, said: “Health and safety is at the forefront of SV Arena's objectives; rigorous health and safety planning has been undertaken to ensure the venue is somewhere that young people and families can enjoy themselves in a safe environment."

Wales YFC announced in the run-up to the 2022 show week that it was organising a smaller-scale YPV, with under 18s only being allowed to stay if they were members of the YFC.

The size of the event had started to attract a younger audience, while the entertainment budget was lowered amid the cost of living crisis.

To find out more about the SV Arena, visit the Severn Valley Events Facebook page and check out the announcement video, or visit the SV Arena website.