Officials from the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and their partners Cuffe & Taylor have dealt with concerns from local residents about how this year’s big-name concerts the Pavilion would be run.
Last year was first time the Eisteddfod had teamed up with the promoters to stage a series hugely successful musical gigs at the iconic venue.
And this year – from June 26 to July 5 – they will come together again to host stars such as Texas, Rag’n’Bone Man, UB40, James, The Human League and Olly Murs in the Live at Llangollen events.
A public meeting was held at the Pavilion last night (Thursday) to give residents and local businesses the chance to air any worries about how these would be run. It was attended by about 40 people.
On the panel along with Eisteddfod chair John Gambles and Keith Potts, who is now in charge of the volunteer team handling day-to-day management of the Pavilion, were Cuffe & Taylor’s event manager Rebecca Woodhead and traffic manager Ben Perkins.
John Games said: “Last year we had about 50,000 people coming here for the evening concerts and we’re holding this meeting to find out whether people have any issues or concerns about last year or this year.”
Rebecca Woodhead explained there would again be a one-way system put in place Abbey Road, Tower Road and Dinbren to ensure smooth traffic flow on the evenings of the concerts.
The official car park will be open daily for the concerts at 1pm – earlier on Eisteddfod week – and be closed at 11.30pm.
Organisers would also be opening a special phone line – and make an email address available – for residents to report any problems they were experiencing with traffic.
However, she said there had been “good feedback” on how the same system operated last year.
One resident close by complained that, last year, she had faced the problem of having people trying to gain access to the field for the concerts through her property.
Rebecca Woodhead replied that they would investigate to see if any extra security measures could be put in place to prevent this.
Another resident said she had had problems with the one-way barriers staying in place longer than had been stated and, despite complaining at the time, nothing was done.
Rebecca Woodhead responded that there would be a different traffic management company handing things this year and that they “would do their best to get it right” this time.
A further complaint was made about contractors fixing fittings connected to the one-way system to their property without permission and this would also be looked into, she added.
Also brought up was the problem of street hawkers selling goods connected to the concerts obstructing pavements in the area. Local county councillor Karen Edwards, who was in the audience, said she would see if council officers could address this.
One of the final issues to be raised was whether this year, like 2024, there would be any “flash” sales of reduced-priced tickets for the concerts. But Sarah Rhodes, on behalf of Cuffe & Taylor said this would not be case. However, she urged people to buy their tickets quickly as there were now “very few left”.
John Gambles ended by saying that on a visit last year the North Wales Chief Constable had assured him security of the site had been impressive and that Cuffe & Taylor were “pretty much the best in the business at looking after people’s safety.”
Leaflets containing all relevant information about how the concerts will be run are to be distributed around the affected areas soon.
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