August 03, 2019 - 2199 views
This year's National Eisteddfod has begun in Llanrwst and despite a damp afternoon following a sunny start, crowds of people have lined up to enjoy this year’s spectacular in the splendid backdrop of the beauty Conwy Valley.
To celebrate the occasion and mark the re-opening of the North Llanrwst station and the restoration of the Conwy Valley line following the damage caused by Storm Gareth earlier this year, a special steam locomotive made its way from Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
The 8 day festival is expected to attract close to 200,000 people and despite heavy traffic being reported on the A470 on Friday night and onto the North Wales coast via the A55, M54 and A5, meticulous planning had been put in place by organisers and North Wales Police to minimise disruption in the town.
This has included a one-way system over Llanrwst bridge, which will be open only to those travelling away from the town along with additional bus services to be run over the week.
Organisers have said this year’s festival has been one of the most challenging that they have ever worked on, partly as a result of rewriting site plans and abandoning the original location of the festival as the flood risk to the event was considered too great.
Despite organisational challenges, the next 7 days promises to be spellbinding and a real treat for the many visitors and local people who will head onto the Maes.
So far a collection of rugged ceramics inspired by the Conwy estuary and nearby beaches has won a local artist the Gold Medal for Craft and Design.
The honour was bestowed on Llandudno ceramicist Bev Bell-Hughes who was also awarded the full monetary prize of £5,000.
An artist living on the Eisteddfod’s doorstep has been awarded the festival’s prestigious Young Artist Scholarship. The £1,500, given buy the Friends of the Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy, was awarded to a multi-disciplinary artist from Dolgarrog.
Hannah Cash, 21 years, has recently graduated in Fine Art at York St John University and her work combines drawing, choreography and film.
The selectors - artist Manon Awst, independent curator Bruce Haines and craft and design specialist Teleri Lloyd-Jones – were unanimous in their decision to award the scholarship to the young artist.
Bruce Haines said: “Hannah Cash is operating in the centre of an intriguing interdisciplinary web of activities. She is a performer and a cinematographer, a director and a choreographer, a location finder and her own archivist.
"The intertwining bodies in a landscape is a trope that provides a rich source of material historically that can be found in museums across the country, spanning 18th-century painting to early 20th century photography, sculpture and early experiments in video art of the 1980s.
“We are in no doubt that Hannah Cash will be emboldened by this award to pursue her dreams with a vital mixture of idealism and pragmatism.
"It was a happy coincidence to discover at the end of the selection process that she comes from a village just a couple of miles down the Conwy Valley from where this Eisteddfod is being held.
"We will look forward to seeing more of her work in whatever form it should take in the years to come and are sure that the promise of what her work proposes at the Eisteddfod in Llanrwst becomes a fond part of her own history.”
For full details of this year’s line up which includes music, drama, comedy and a celebration of Welsh life and culture visit www.eisteddfod.wales.
Photograph reproduced with kind permission from British Transport Police North Wales.
