An urgent global appeal has already attracted £40,000 of pledges to help secure the future of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
The appeal was only launched at the weekend because this year’s event is heading for a financial loss as a result of disappointing ticket sales.
Eisteddfod officials are delighted with the response after urging supporters to keep on giving towards a target of £70,000 to clear the books this year.
Concert-goers for the Burt Bacharach curtain-raiser to this year’s event dropped almost £500 in collection buckets at the event and there has been a steady stream of donations, large and small all week.
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Posts Categorized: News
Gemma blows up a storm

A Heswall student has landed a top award at the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod.
Gillian Blair, 24, who is studying music at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music, beat off top competition to win the first ever International Young Musician title and land the £1,500 prize and international medal.
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Eisteddfod competitors tuck into Village Bakery Welsh cakes made by royal hands

HUNGRY competitors at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod have had the chance to sample Welsh cakes made by the royal hands.
On Tuesday Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited the headquarters of the Village Bakery on Wrexham Industrial Estate and during a tour of the production area donned white coats and hats to help flip a batch of the traditional Welsh delicacy on a hot griddle.
The following day a team from the award-winning bakery delivered a complimentary consignment of over 200 packets of the cakes to the Eisteddfod’s hospitality department – including the ones which the royal couple helped to prepare. (more…)
Meifod youngsters show off their skills

Community officers from Wrexham Football Club took to the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod field to challenge young festival goers to show off their ball skills.
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Peace champion Terry Waite’s inspiring message to young Eisteddfod volunteers
LEGENDARY peace champion Terry Waite has told young first-time volunteers at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod that they are helping to promote international understanding and hope for the future.
Sixth-formers from Ysgol Dinas Bran in Llangollen are among over 50 youngsters from three schools in the region, including Ysgol Morgan Llwyd in Wrexham and Ysgol Glan Clwyd in Rhyl, who have given up their time to work as unpaid welcome hosts at the festival, greeting visitors from across the globe.
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Dancing prince waves off parade on Eisteddfod’s opening day parade
PRINCE Charles used a giant Welsh dragon flag to wave off the traditional opening day parade at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod yesterday afternoon.
The prince, who is the Eisteddfod’s Patron, also got into the spirit of the occasion by accepting an invitation to have a brief dance with members of a Punjabi bhangra group as he watched the colourful line-up leave the field on its way to the town centre.
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Multi-coloured giant gorillas make debut at Llangollen Eisteddfod

A troop of giant multi-coloured gorillas will stand guard over this year’s Llangollen International Music festival.
The 10 sheet metal gorillas, standing 6ft tall and weighing nearly 16 stone, will go on show for the first time when the iconic festival of singing and dancing gets underway on Tuesday, July 7. The spectacular primates, each clutching a huge bunch of bananas, have been created at the British Ironwork Centre near Oswestry. After Llangollen, the gorillas will be taken on a tour of festivals across the UK.
Their creator is Clive Knowles, 53, chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, who are supporting this year’s Eisteddfod. (more…)
Llangollen Eisteddfod is a beacon of hope

Royal composer Paul Mealor has hailed the Llangollen International Musical Festival as a beacon of hope and peace in an increasingly troubled world.
Professor Mealor, who was born in St Asaph, says the festival brings people from all over the world together through the international language of music. He shot to international fame after writing Ubi Caritas et Amor for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011 and also composed Wherever You Are, which became the 2011 Christmas number one for the Military Wives under the baton of Gareth Malone.
Prof Mealor will be attending the Llangollen Eisteddfod as an adjudicator for the second time this year and for the first time as a vice president of the iconic event which starts on Tuesday, July 7. (more…)
Britain’s Got Talent singing sensation Jonathan is heading for Llangollen

Britain’s Got Talent singing sensation Jonathan Antoine is looking forward to following in the footsteps of another larger than life tenor when he takes to the stage at this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
The down-to-earth 20-year-old, who split from singing partner Charlotte Jaconelli last year, can’t wait to step out onto the stage where the great Luciano Pavarotti performed. He said: “Performing at Llangollen is going to be so exciting. It’s a breeding ground for creativity and to be on the same stage that someone like Pavarotti performed on is just a wonderful thought. I’m really, really looking forward to it.” (more…)
Thousands of youngsters will flock to enjoy Children’s Day concert

AROUND 4,000 schoolchildren will join in a day of music and fun to raise the curtain on this summer’s Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.
They will be heading for the International Pavilion to take part in a concert entitled Bongos, Brass and Plenty of Dance which is the centrepiece of Children’s Day, the traditional prelude to the annual cultural festival being staged from July 6-12. The 40-minute musical extravaganza will be staged twice, at 10.30am and again at 12 noon, on the opening day, Tuesday July 7.
The crowds of young visitors will later head out on to the Eisteddfod field to enjoy a packed programme of street theatre complete with clown, stilt walkers and Bollywood dancing. (more…)