The latest positive local news from Bala & Dolgellau: food and drink, nightlife, people, arts, sport and business stories from La Vida North Wales.
Five-star Palé Hall at Llandderfel has opened the Jockey Bar, filled with racing memorabilia, and its owners marked the launch with £30,000 of donations to racing charities.
Two years after Mark and Liz Hutchinson reopened it, the Railway Inn in Abergynolwyn has been named CAMRA's Pub of the Year 2026 for Gwynedd and Ynys Môn.
Aberystwyth-based Driftwood Designs has opened its fourth shop on Bala's High Street, filling the Old Chocolate Shop with cards, prints and homewares designed by artist Lizzie Spikes.
Robin and Rosie Evans started Epicurean Chocolatiers in Bala just a year ago, and the young couple have already collected a World Confectionery Award and two Great British Food Awards medals.
Founded by two Finnish-born brothers, Niku-Naku's wood-fired lakeside sauna in Bala pairs authentic Finnish sauna culture with cold plunges into Wales' largest natural lake.
The National White Water Centre at Frongoch near Bala has celebrated 40 years of rafting, kayaking and canyoning on the dam-fed Afon Tryweryn, welcoming up to 40,000 visitors a year.
Founded in 1985, Dolgellau Music Club continues to bring chamber music, choirs and song recitals to Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor, with soprano Anusha Merrin and pianist Iwan Owen next on the bill.