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The town is buzzing with excitement as final preparations get underway for the return of our iconic international festival in all its glory.
It will be the
first full length Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod since before the
Covid pandemic and the Parade of Nations is also coming back with a colourful
cavalcade of competitors through the streets.
The event was
cancelled in 2020, went online in 2021 and there was a much reduced live
festival last year.
But after an
absence of four years things are back to normal and thousands of singers and
dancers from around the planet will be heading for the Dee Valley where it’s said that “Wales meets the world”.
An extension has
once again been added to the famous international pavilion to increase capacity
to 4,000 seats in the canvas-covered auditorium.
Also back will be
the spectacular floral display at the front of the pavilion stage, lovingly
created by a band of dedicated volunteer flower growers and arrangers.
Meanwhile, the
town itself has been festooned with bunting and an expert abseiler has placed a
giant banner high above Llangollen railway station.
Llangollen Eisteddfod
was founded in 1947 in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Organisers say
it’s more important and relevant than ever as a force for good to foster peace
and harmony between nations.
It all gets underway on Tuesday, July 4, and the competitions and
concerts continue until Sunday, July 9.
Each day features a full
programme of competitions in the pavilion and a line-up of stalls and
exhibitions on the field along with the competitors from around the world, many
in colourful dress while three open-air stages run a stream of live
performances.
Entertainment
on the outside site includes workshops, talks, international showcases, outdoor
theatre performances, circus skills, sound bath sessions, yoga, belly dancing, beginner’s Welsh and salsa.
The Globe Stage will feature music acts spanning folk, jazz, world and
indie.
There will also be an international flavour to the cuisine available in
the new Globe Food Court.
It will be a special occasion for Eisteddfod
Executive Producer Camilla King who took up her role last year but will this
time preside over the event in its full, traditional format.
She said: “This is definitely our first all bells
and whistles event since 2019 and I hope that people who have been in the past
and really loved the event will enjoy that experience this year.
“We’re delighted that the spectacularly colourful
Parade of Nations will be happening once again this year with support from
Everbright Hotels.
“We will be encouraging our competitors to get
involved with doing impromptu pop-ups on the Maes and interacting with the
public attending the event.
“There is going to be so much going on with bands
playing, a dedicated kids’ area and three performance stages, including the
Globe Stage for a wide variety of music, as well at the Globe Food Court which
celebrates the cuisines of eight different countries.
“There’s also the Amphitheatre showcasing our
international performers and the Dome for acoustic music, talks, panel sessions
and readings while elsewhere there will be free workshops in floral art, sound
bath sessions, yoga, belly dancing, beginner’s Welsh, salsa and much more.
“It all takes place on a self-contained site which
is safe and secure and just an easy walk into Llangollen and with secure
dedicated festival car parking nearby for just £5 a day.”
The magnificent
display of flowers cascading across the front of the stage is the work of
volunteers on the Floral Committee whose team grow their own, buy from
Liverpool Market and even occasionally beg blooms from attractive gardens in
the town.
Floral
Committee Chair Jane Williams said: “The theme this year is a country garden
but often we don’t really know how it’s going to look until we’ve seen how the
stage is set up.
“We use a lot
of ironwork for the structure which has to hold the flowers in place and we
have shelving and plastic containers of water and even dustbins with water for
really tall plants like delphiniums which can be six to eight feet high.
“You never really
know what you have until you get there – this year the foxgloves are quite
ahead of time, but you just have to work with what you get and we’re grateful
for donors like Chirk Castle who have been very kind this year and many others
who have given flowers.”
Over the years the festival has grown into one of
Europe’s premier music and dance events.
It has attracted cultural icons like Dylan Thomas
who visited for the BBC 70 years ago and whose famous radio broadcast about the Eisteddfod is
being recreated to mark its 70th anniversary.
A reading from actor, writer and director Celyn
Jones will be the centrepiece of a mini programme of events to celebrate
Thomas’s 15-minute masterpiece on the BBC’s Home Service – tragically he was to
die just a few months later in New York.
That same year the late Queen Elizabeth also
attended the Eisteddfod shortly after her Coronation while two years later the late great Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, began his
international career at Llangollen as a member of a choir from Modena.
The week’s highlights include a concert starring Alfie Boe and musical
theatre supergroup Welsh of the West End on the first night of the Eisteddfod
on Tuesday, July 4.
Wednesday will see
The White Flower: Into The Light, a concert of remembrance for the fallen of
Sarajevo and Ukraine, featuring the NEW Sinfonia orchestra with soloists from
Bosnia, Wales and Ukraine, with the centrepiece formed by Karl Jenkin’s much
loved work, The Armed Man.
The popular procession of international
participants and celebration of peace takes place on Thursday, followed by
Flight, a new mixed-media dance, music and theatre work by visionary artists
Propellor Ensemble, inspired by migratory patterns in nature and humanity.
On the Friday night Guy
Barker’s Big Band will take the stage with Strictly Come Dancing singer Tommy
Blaize.
Saturday features the blue riband
event, the Choir of the World competition for the coveted Pavarotti Trophy, and
also Dance Champions and the Pendine International Voice of the Future 2023.
There is a new look to the final
day of the Eisteddfod on Sunday with an all new live final which
sees rising vocal stars battle it out to claim the title Voice of Musical
Theatre, and Cân i Llan, a new song-writing competition for unsigned acts aged
14-22, providing a platform for emerging voices in contemporary popular music.
Camilla added: “The bridge spanning the River Dee in the centre of town is officially one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and Llangollen Eisteddfod should be acclaimed as the Eighth Wonder. I can’t wait.”
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