Fringe cancelled but team has other plans in mind

This year's Llangollen Fringe in its usual form has been cancelled due to the coronaviris crisis.

But the team behind the popular annual event has come up with a number of other ways to keep up interest in the arts and music festival. 

Subject to the coronavirus restrictions, this is what they plan to deliver over the summer and into next year: 

* July 17-26 - some online Fringe activities details of which are to follow 

* September 22 and into 2021 - A series of Town Hall gigs featuring the headline performers they had planned aimed at showcasing the usual eclectic Fringe mix of performances

* After July 17 - a day of entertainment on Centenary Square. This will be a free, public event and will be staged at the first available opportunity. The aim is to make this a fun day which also serves as a showcase for local talent.

In a message to supporters, Fringe organisers say: "If you, or someone you know, can provide a 20-30 minute performance ‘at the drop of a hat’, please get in touch with Chris."

Festival ticket holders are asked to either send an email to the Fringe which organisers say will result in a full refund, or let them hold onto the cash, which will mean: 

* You will be welcome to come along to all the planned headliner gigs, free of charge

* Receive 50% off next year’s Festival Ticket and

* Come along to one of the Fringe's monthly comedy clubs

The team adds in its message: "Our videographer has accumulated hours of Fringe footage over the last 10 years or so and we are putting together a compilation of highlights.  

"Is there a special moment you would like to see?  If so, and we have it recorded, send an email here and we will include it on our website.

"We thank you for your most valued support and hope you can enjoy the ‘little bit of us’ that we are trying our hardest to bring to you this year.  

"Let us all hope we can get back to normal, if that exists anymore, soon… and certainly in time for next year."

More Covid volunteers are highlighted by Cat

To mark the current National Volunteer Week, Cat Meade, co-ordinator of Llangollen Coronavirus Help Group, has turned the spotlight on more groups helping the town through the the pandemic crisis.

She says of them on Facebook:

Zero Food Waste and Food Share Llangollen 

These guys Volunteer ALL YEAR round, these past 10 weeks they have supported more and more local families, nothing is too much and they ALWAYS do it with a SMILE 

Jane Louise Tornado Kalamity Wild Stephanie Mitchell Lesley Greasley

Jane started the food parcels when we first went into Lockdown, I was messaging orders day after day and with the team they got delivered that very day.

Kirsty had the idea of the VE DAY packages, which together with our Volunteers, Steve chef The Swan Inn, Pontfadog and the lovely Pretty Vintage Tearoom and Barista Coffee we all pulled together to make it a memory for those in Lockdown.

Steph never stops delivering, always happy to help, her daughter is following in her footsteps and has started a small business making jewellery with 70% of everything sold going to the Foodshare Fund, please support.

Lesley is not only doing food deliveries and helping, she has also been preparing and cooking hot food for the vulnerable. 

The Foodshare require their own FULL TIME premises in TOWN as they are currently using the Pengwern hub, but this is only during lockdown, Pref somewhere with a kitchen facility that can become their full time base. If you can help please contact one of the ladies. 

Please join me in saying A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE LADIES THAT ARE FEEDING THIS TOWN DAILY. 

https://www.facebook.com/110793237011195/posts/251320449625139/

Food Share itself said: "Here is just *some* of the shopping we've done today to make food parcels to support people in our #llangollenfamily

Today alone, 3 unpaid volunteers have done 10 hours' work behind the scenes, and that's before we do our surplus round at 8pm.

Cat goes on: 

A big THANK YOU to Lisa Griffiths 

Lisa has been a Volunteer for 10 weeks, been with the team from day 1. I assign her tasks 4/5 days a week sometimes more than once a day, Lisa has been a PRIME volunteer assisting the elderly with shopping, picking up a list for Aldi, HB along with collecting the orders I submit for residents to Stans, collecting and delivering.

Lisa also helped in the delivery of VE Day packages and the 3,000 leaflet drop we delivered 2 weeks ago.

Any time I message (sometimes at short notice) she says YES and does it with a smile.

I have had a lot of residents comment on how friendly, lovely and helpful Lisa has been with them.

Lisa does all of this while being a mum at home, she doesnt want the limelight and is a genuine lovely lady.

Please join me in saying a BIG THANK YOU to Lisa, you have the heart of an Angel. Amazing lady.

Also on Facebook Cat has made a plea for funds to help her group keep up the good work.

She says: "Every Little Helps Llangollen. Funds are very low, please help us to keep supporting.

The link to the group's gofundme page is: 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/llangollen-covid-19-support-group?sharetype=teams&member=4053532&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&pc_code=ot_co_dashboard_a&rcid=d4ead1c6aa73426980f4d36b658fb652&fbclid=IwAR3qnH-dNF5S5WLwHbjqiCZnl92omR52NT5acTc8S8Yz8OCy2ZRw79l73cU

LlanBikeFest 2020 is cancelled due to Covid-19

Llangollen Motorcycle Festival - LlanBikeFest – has been cancelled for 2020 because of Covid-19. 

But organisers are already planning for it to be "back with a bang" in 2021.

Billed as Wales’ premier motorcycle festival on August 1 and 2, the event was expected to attract thousands of enthusiasts in its sixth year. 

But with Wales still off limits for visiting bikers, it’s uncertain restrictions will be lifted by then. 

Traders and people who have already booked online are being given full refunds, say organisers.

Event manager Deb Rogers said: “LlanBikeFest has grown and grown since we started in 2015 as a festival for everyone who loves bikes, run by people who love bikes. 

"Its success is driven by the hard work of dozens of supporters and volunteers, as well traders, exhibitors and the public. 

"There is such goodwill towards LlanBikeFest that we are confident we will bounce back better than ever next year.”

* More details and images on www.llanbikefest.co.uk and Facebook.

Cat casts the spotlight on Llangollen's volunteer heroes

* Chloe Jane Chard has been volunteering at the newsagents in Castle Street.

To celebrate the current National Volunteers' Week, Cat Meade, co-ordinator of the Llangollen Coronvirus Help Group, has taken to Facebook to shine the spotlight on two sets of volunteers whose actions have stood out during the Covid-19 crisis.

They are Chloe Jane Chard, who has been helping out at the newsagents in Castle Street, and the team at Dee Valley Produce in Oak Street.

Cat says of them:

Chloe has been assisting Newsagents Castle Street as a Volunteer for the past 10 weeks, working 6 days a week delivering to those hard to reach areas of Llangollen and surrounding areas, using her moped she has turned up every day to ensure those newspapers got to their rightful owner who were awaiting their delivery.

Last week Chloe's moped broke down, rather than say she couldn't help she went on her way, on foot to deliver. 

I asked Chloe to tell me a bit about herself so I could share ...

"Hi, my name's Chloe and I’m 17 years old. My lifelong aspiration is to join the military as a nurse and out of lockdown I attended the military awareness course provided my North Wales training in Kinmel Camp, Bodelwyddan. I am a registered nursing cadet with the Royal College of Nursing and awaiting a clinical placement in Wrexham Maelor but due to current circumstances that has been postponed."

Cat says: PLEASE join me in saying a BIG THANK YOU to Chloe, our next Generation, proud of you Chloe and well done. I have a little gift coming your way."

* Part of the team who have kept Dee Valley Produce open during the Covid crisis. 

Dee Valley Produce

Please see below A THANK YOU from Sam & Wayne for all the Volunteers who have assisted with deliveries these past 10 WEEKS.

The Staff at the shop have worked long hard hours to keep the fresh produce coming to your door, the Volunteers have ensured every request has been fulfilled.

Thank you all, and please ensure we remain LOYAL to this fantastic LOCAL BUSINESS on the other side. 

The shop's team themselves say: "The past few months have been a very scary and uncertain time for all of us, we would like to send out a huge thank you to our wonderful staff and volunteers who have helped us through this tough time! 

"We couldn’t of done it without them, we are forever grateful especially to our staff members who have worked really hard ....

"Rhian Davies, David Dillon, Jordan Hamner, Heather Pritchard-Jones, Sophie Preston, Julie Davies, Ann and Dave Bithell, Robin Williams, Karen Maurice, Phillipa, Tony & Harry Capstick, Vicky Davies, Howard Jones, Amy (Three Eagles). You are all amazing.

"Wayne, Sam & family." 

Cat has promised to feature more volunteers during the course of the week.  

County appeals for people to follow new 'stay local' guidelines

Denbighshire County Council has thanked residents for supporting the national Stay at Home messages over recent weeks in the efforts to protect communities from coronavirus – but has now urged people to stay local and keep Wales safe.

From today Welsh Government has confirmed that two households in the same local area will be able to meet outdoors, but must follow social distancing guidelines and strict hand hygiene practices to control the spread of the virus.

'Local' means not generally travelling more than 5 miles from home to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading from one area to another and the Council would like to make it clear that beauty and tourist spots in Denbighshire and throughout the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, including country parks,  remain closed until further notice.

Councillor Tony Thomas, Cabinet Lead Member for Housing and Communities, said: “The people of Denbighshire and other parts of Wales have played a crucial role in reducing the spread of coronavirus in our communities and we want to thank them for their efforts to stay at home and follow national guidelines.

“We recognise that the guidance has now changed, which allows people to stay local and allowing two households to meet in the outdoors.  All that we’re asking people to do is follow the guidelines and let’s play our part in keeping Wales safe.

“We have also been pleased that the vast majority of visitors have stayed away from our beauty spots.  The great weather we have experienced has made it really tempting for people to get out and visit our scenic countryside and beaches but we are asking visitors to continue to follow the guidelines and to stay away for the time being.  We will be opening up Denbighshire to visitors as soon as we can, but will not do so until the time is right."

MS probes possible agreement for Llan people to use Plas Madoc tip

With Llangollen's lack of suitable waste recycling facilities rapidly becoming a hot topic, Clwyd South Senedd Member Ken Skates (pictured) is looking into whether an agreement exists between Denbighshire and Wrexham for local people to use the Plas Madoc tip.

Since Llangollen's own recycling facility on the A539 was closed in 2007 people from this area have been using either the Wrexham site, or the "pop-up" Saturday morning waste service on the Pavilion car park. 

Both facilities closed when the coronavirus lockdown began about 10 weeks ago.

But while Wrexham has now re-opened Plas Madoc, the Pavilion service has not yet been reintroduced.

Mr Skates asked Wrexham last week if Plas Madoc could be used by local people but, as llanblogger reported earlier today, he was told this was being reserved for Wrexham residents.

Now it has been suggested that some form of agreement was reached between Denbighshire and Wrexham for Llangollen's use of Plas Madoc 13 years ago.

And Mr Skates said today he was seeking clarification from the two councils about whether this is the case.

Llangollen county councillor Graham Timms is also looking into the agreement claim, which has been made by his county council predecessor Stuart Davies.

llanblogger will keep readers updated on developments.

Eisteddfod stages online event in wake of Covid cancellation

An online taste of Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is to be staged this summer.

In a bid to stay connected with worldwide audiences following the cancellation of this year's festival in March due to the coronavirus crisis, it will host a free-to-view web event entitled Llangollen Online #ConnectingtheWorld.

Between June 1 until July 11 viewers will be able to vote for their favourite archive footage from previous festivals going back over the past 25 years.

From today, working in collaboration with media partners Rondo Media, the eisteddfod will be screening the classic footage and asking people to vote for their favourite moment until the end of the month. 

The archive material will be presented in five categories: Mixed, Chamber and Youth Choirs, Single Voice and Barbershop Choirs, Children’s Choirs, Folk Groups and Choirs and Adult and Youth Dance. 

Vote winners in each category will be announced daily during what was due to be eisteddfod week from July 7-11.

During that week audiences will be able to see new content to complement the archive footage.

This includes Heddwch a Harmoni: Byd gwâr yw ein byd o gân, lines by renowned Welsh poet, Mererid Hopwood, which focus on the eisteddfod’s founding principles to bring international communities together in peace and harmony.

Eisteddfod artistic director,Edward-Rhys Harry said: “It felt vital to bring our global community together to share music and dance and of course, continue a message of peace and harmony. 

"Normally at this time of year, our staff, volunteers and local community are working full speed to deliver the festival, and we have also had lots of messages from overseas participants telling us how much they are missing us and the experience. So in some way we wanted to be able to connect and share on a different platform this year as best we can.”

He added: “There is a whole host of activity surrounding this. On Tuesday the Peace Message will be children and youth-centric, so will, in effect, replace the Children’s Day message this year. 

"The Thursday message will be centred around several major events - a message from our president Terry Waite, the new commission by Mererid Hopwood, who will help narrate this, along with a number of our volunteers, children and other participants, and a song of peace and hope.”

Gareth Williams, Rondo Media said: "Over the past few weeks, we've been going through the eisteddfod archive which includes 25 years of footage showcasing performers from 57 different countries and well over 10,000 competitors. 

"In 2019, leading up to eisteddfod week, we held an online voting competition to find the Choir of the World Champions. 

"It proved to be hugely popular and so we knew there was appetite amongst our core international eisteddfod audiences for something similar. We have also been working with S4C for many years to share."

The Welsh Government recently announced funding for Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod to help with business continuity through 2020, including planning and preparation for the 2021 events.

Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language, Eluned Morgan, said: “The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is one of Wales’ signature summer events and I’m delighted that we’ll still be able to get a digital experience this year.  

"The innovation and creativity shown by our events and creative industries sector has been excellent - and is allowing people from across the world to come together and provides a platform to share and celebrate during these unprecedented times.”

* Voting opens today on Llangollen.TV and closes on June 30. More details of the programme and events will be released over the coming weeks on social media and Llangollen.net.