Message from prince will open next week's online eisteddfod

* Prince Charles dances at the 2015 eisteddfod.

A special message from its royal patron the Prince of Wales will open a week of online activities in place of this year's Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod which was cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.

Last month it launched Llangollen Online #connectingtheworld, a digital offering to bring together its global community following the postponement. 

And next week, in what would have been Eisteddfod Week, there is a programme of online activity to give a flavour of the festival to the many participants and visitors who usually descend on the town each July.

On Tuesday, to open the week, there will be a recorded message from patron Prince Charles.  

This continues a long relationship between The Prince of Wales and the eisteddfod, which he has visited three times. 

During the most recent visit in 2015, he was famously coaxed into dancing with members of a Punjabi bhangra group from Nottingham, the Sheerer Punjabi dancers, as he waved off the traditional Parade of Nations.

On Thursday 9 July, as part of the festival’s traditional Peace Day, online audiences will be treated to the premiere of a Global Peace Message. 

The main feature will be a relayed spoken word performance of a specially commissioned poem, Harmoni a Heddwch, written by Mererid Hopwood. 

Those taking part in the message include eisteddfod president Terry Waite plus children from Ysgol Rhostyllen, St Giles School Wrexham and Ysgol Dinas Bran. 

The online premiere will also present the first performance of a new piece of music sung by Wrexham soprano Elan Catrin Parry with words by Hopwood and music by Edward-Rhys Harry.

Eisteddfod artistic director Edward-Rhys Harry said: "We are delighted to open the week with a message from the Prince of Wales.  

"With Tuesday traditionally being our Children’s Day we will also have the online premiere of our Children’s Day Message of Peace, elements of which will be included in our Global Peace Message on Thursday. 

"This is the first time we have ever done anything like this and we are all so excited to be able to share it online with our international community." 

Mererid Hopwood is a Welsh poet who in 2001 became the first woman ever to win the bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the Crown in 2003 and the Prose Medal in 2008. 

Over the past four weeks people have been voting via Llangollen.TV for their favourite performances and moments from the last 25 years, from footage showcasing performers from 57 different countries and well over 10,000 competitors. 

Tens of thousands of people have voted in five categories and the winners will be announced live on S4C’s daily show Prynhawn Da! as well as on Llangollen TV every day during what would have been Llangollen 2020 from July 7-11.

The week will also include the Young Peacemakers Awards, in association with the Welsh Centre for International Affairs (WCIA), an online premiere of the Children’s Day Message by Chris Dukes with local school children from Ysgol Bryn Collen and St Joseph's Catholic & Anglican High School, Wrexham, plus competitor messages from across the globe.

Eisteddfod Week will culminate in a 90-minute documentary on S4C on Sunday July 12 at 7.30pm, featuring some of the most memorable moments from the past 25 years.

To precede the week, audiences can relive Llangollen 2019 with a special broadcast of last year’s highlights programme to be shown on BBC 2 Wales on Sunday 5 July at 7pm.

* Visit www.llangollen.net for full details of Llangollen Online.