Llangollen Eisteddfod members have been reassured about the benefits of having an international promotions company handle a series of concerts next year aimed at restoring its viability.
The festival is fighting to recover from the massive loss it made last year which left its finance situation so vulnerable that it was forced to make its executive producer redundant.
Just weeks ago it was announced that the Cuffe & Taylor partnership, which is backed by the US-owned Live Nation, would be masterminding a string of high-profile music events being arranged around the main Eisteddfod – July 2-7 next year – featuring the bands Manic Street Preachers plus Suede and singing star Paloma Faith as part of their 2024 tours.
Cuffe & Taylor will also help arrange three of the traditional evening concerts during the Eisteddfod, one of which, it was revealed, would be the kind of big-name act that the festival would have booked on its own before the financial crisis hit.
Eisteddfod leaders called a meeting of members last night (Wednesday) in St Collen’s Church to update them on the situation and to allow them to hear and closely question promoters Dan Cuffe and business partner Peter Taylor.
Eisteddfod chair Sarah Ecob welcomed around 40 people, including committee and trustee board members, to the meeting which also had over 20 members taking part via Zoom.
She said dedicated groups were already at work on an action plan aimed at getting the Eisteddfod back on track after finding itself in a “very dire financial situation”.
The chair said the festival realised it would have to do better in a number of areas including communication, marketing and TV broadcasting – figures she displayed showed that last year’s festival had attracted just 26 UK press articles, 13 international ones and 106 online.
She explained that due to the financial situation the festival had struggled to bring in big names for the evening concerts in the way it used to, adding that the partnership with Cuffe & Taylor would now bring financial security while ensuring the Eisteddfod remained true to its traditional ethos of international peace.
“Social media was set ablaze by the Manic Street Preachers announcement and we have more to come,” she revealed.
Ms Ecob told the audience that the festival now planned to take on an artistic director and fundraiser, both working on a freelance basis, and make announcements soon about its 2024 competitions and programme.
Cuffe and Taylor explained their background as two young men from Lancashire who has teamed up in 2009 to begin arranging local musical events and then eventually gone international after joining forces with the American company Live Nation.
Admitting that the Eisteddfod was the first major event of its type they had worked with, Dan Cuffe said: “We have our expertise but we want you to tell us how to do this. We want to build on your existing organisation.”
Peter Taylor said: “I know you are bit concerned that this big American company is coming in and will take over but we have worked well with other venues which have had hard times, such as the Peace Hall in Halifax, and that gives us the experience of how we can do this.”
Their message was reinforced by Dave Danford, who has been involved with the production of every Eisteddod concert over the past decade.
He said: “I was in a three-hour meeting with Cuffe and Taylor and had my reservations but left feeling very positive. I am confident our partnership with them is the way forward.”
And Keith Potts, who has been deeply involved with the behind-the-scenes production of various aspects of the festival for many years, said: “They don’t want to come in and change the Eisteddfod, they want to enhance the Eisteddfod. The Eisteddfod will carry on and we will have the financial backing of this company to make sure that we can do that.”
During a question-and-answer session someone asked from the floor what would happen if Live Nation wanted to change the Eisteddfod.
Peter Taylor replied: “We have a contract with your trustees and through that you will be protected.”
Sarah Ecob assured: “Apart from the three evening concerts, Cuffe & Taylor will have no involvement with the Eisteddfod at all and details of the contract are currently being negotiated with them.”
She added that when it came to arranging the three evening concerts the partners would work in collaboration with the trustees.
Towards the end there was a stark warning from former Eisteddfod chairman Dr Rhys Davies who said: “The Eisteddfod itself needs to change and attract new audiences. If it doesn’t move forward it will die.”
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