Wrexham all set to welcome National Eisteddfod

THE National Eisteddfod, one of Europe's biggest cultural festivals, will be staged in Wrexham, Wales’ newest city, this year.

- By STEVE BAGNALL and ERYL CRUMP

In recent weeks Eisteddfod staff and contractors have transformed farmland at Is-y-Coed on the eastern outskirts of Wrexham, into a small town with a 1,500 seat pavilion, a range of performance spaces and stalls as well as a temporary Gorsedd circle.

The Eisteddfod marks the culmination of more than two years of organizing and fundraising by local people.

Llinos Roberts, Chairman of the Executive Committee, said realising a festival as big as the Eisteddfod is not easy and she paid tribute to the staff for their vision and perseverance.

"I would like to thank everyone in Wrexham from the bottom of my heart for their tireless work over the past year creating a new buzz and raising awareness of our language and culture throughout the county," she said.