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Since I stopped living there, or thereabouts, in 1997, Mold has undergone something of a cultural renaissance. Over recent years this has been in no small part due to the efforts of Andy and Sophie from the Absurd (co-organisers of last year's inaugural Y Ffîn Festival), due to the success of local artists like The Joy Formidable and , and because local venues like Y Delyn and Y Pentan are supporting indigenous talent.

If you live in a dead-end town, Mold is an excellent example of how a small handful of dedicated enthusiasts can transform the cultural landscape for the benefit of everybody. It's an empowering story of what can be achieved when people do rather than moan about what is not being done.

Mold's resurrection reaches some kind of apotheosis this week as the town becomes the place to be for anyone in the area with an interest in creative expression.

This would have been an unthinkable turn of events 15 or 20 years ago. Despite having, in Theatr Clwyd, one of the area's finest arts complexes overlooking the town, Mold itself felt artistically barren. It was about as rock 'n' roll as the Antiques Roadshow. We'd joke that the only way the likes of us, the tatty-headed hoi polloi, would find ourselves in Theatr Clwyd would be when they finally got around to showing Star Wars... 15 years late.

It was a '15 years late' kind of town.

But that isn't the case any more.

You can tumble off the street and into a tiny bar hosting poetry readings, acoustic performances, or cherrypicking a whole new definition for the word 'eclecticism' out of his CD case. It's not quite the Greenwich Village in 1961, but neither is it - any more - a village stuck in 1991.

This week has a particular magnitude to it because a number of unrelated events - all run by enthusiasts unfazed by commercial interests - happen to coincide within a matter of days of each other.

Firstly, tonight (Thursday 29 April) one of Wales' finest singer songwriter's, Alun Tan Lan, visits 'Gathering of Folk' at Y Pentan. These are nights hosted by Welsh folk troubadour, Andy Hickie; a monthly night that's sole aim is to celebrate music's place at the heart of the community.

On Friday night, one of Mold's rising stars, Mechanical Owl's Mike Payne, co-launches a new night at St Mary's Church Hall. The night is called The Beard Collector and will feature performances from Mike and Simon and the Witch. There will be various stalls offering local artistic produce, as well as tea and snacks.

On Saturday (May Day), the same venue plays host to Twmpath as part of the Cadi Ha festival.

The culmination of the week is a festival on the Bailey Hill on Sunday afternoon / evening that will include live performances from the , , poet Rhys Trimble, the superlative , and , as well as sets from and Parti'r Pentan Choir. Someone mentioned something about facepainting in a yurt. If I manage to drag myself away from work for long enough they'll need plenty of paint. I have a very wide face.

To the more culturally engaged areas of Wales - especially those that are more metropolitan - this might sound like a lot of fuss about just a little. But for a town as small as Mold, its younger population's growing pride in the town's heritage and willingness to extend and embroider that legacy is very exciting and serves as an inspirational example for similarly-sized market towns throughout Wales.

It will be fascinating to see and hear what the long-term repercussions of this awakening will be.