Episode 2 Llangollen

And very warm welcome to our second programme of the 2011 Eisteddfod.

Once again this is a festival pillock highlights will stop

spectacular performances, two well on tenors, countries united on the

stage and the who will claim the Hello will stop welcome to the

children's choir from China. They have spent 10 hours in a plane and

several hours more travelling overland to get here. Despite all

of that, they have sung beautifully thought as. We are so pleased to

see them. Here is a taste of the junior choir competition. And here

is that choir from China up on the stage singing and dancing a

beautiful song about the flight of The New Forest Choir from England

sank a song about smugglers. -- How will front the children of a

primary school in Hong Kong. This is Joyce and Christopher will start

this is their teacher. You must be very proud of how the children have

performed today. Yes, indeed did very well today. We all love you

beautiful costumes, the at some colour to VED. No thank you. Here

is at traditional Chinese song This Welsh choir has been competing

here for 10 years. Here in the junior children's competition they

are singing a piece by a local Now we have the results of the

junior choir competition. Here are the winners will stop is your

conductor the best in the world? yes. What was it like being on the

stage? Amazing. Enjoy the rest of your time here. Well done! Now over

to our other reported down in the town. After travelling all the way

from India they still manage to look fresh and bright, how do they

On Thursday the honour of being Des President was bestowed on us all

You can die more than once in Cardiff and in Llangollen. There is

something very special about this coming together to share music,

isn't there? There is. It is a very special place. Sometimes you need

to go elsewhere to find that out. I visited people in Africa who knew

about it. They knew that you had to cross the peace bridge to get here.

They knew that once you got to the field the whole one of would be

here singing in friendship. The festival spells out off the field.

I have been down the tow path and the canal. In the town the pubs are

full, there is dancing in the streets. It is literally the whole

world coming together having a ball. It is lovely to see it will stop

enjoy the rest of your time here. Take me back, remind me of so many

charms. I long to lie in Cardiff's From lung Coughlan be moved to an

historic baskets city known as San Sebastian which has been a city of

battles. The recent history has been less turbulent and the truce

announcement of 2010 created a new political environment. The basket

school is now openly the focal point of revival of traditional

cultures. We know that we always have to work with our basket

tradition and sculpture -- tradition and culture. Those

traditions, we have realised, and an important way to take the

children to new environments, to give them new opportunities to meet

different people and experience different cultures. The school's

dance teacher has made significant strides during his seven years with

the students. The dance group has increased in numbers six Fall and

now boasts over 180 members. This week, visitors to Llangollen have

the opportunity to enjoy some Basque culture. The young students

take to the stage in the children's And did the when requesting murk

here is an adjudicator. In the winner for traditional dance action

is reliant the Basque Country. their hard work paid off. The

dancers from the Basque Country and their college. You must be very

delighted. Yes, we came here 20 years ago and we won now this year,

two times. All those hours of hard work and practice paid off. A pint

Now we have an act from Perth in Welcome to Wales, all the way from

the Australia, how was your trip over? It was a really good

experience for me. I never thought I would be able to get this far

with my byline. We have come and Taking first place in the brand new

competition this year, the fault jockeys' competition, from the

Republic of South Korea. -- fork showpiece competition -- Folk

Showcase Competition. We checked in yesterday afternoon and were to be

up for or so one bus at 8 o'clock and one bus at 8: 30. When our

career went down to the lobby at 20 minutes to seven she was greeted

with two men who said we had to vacate the building immediately,

pack everything and leave. They had put the business into bankruptcy.

It was quite a challenge therefore for the Eisteddfod committee to

find them beds for the night. A body had to start each day and bet

earlier, it did not dampen their spirits. It is an extraordinary

experience to be there with so many people are who are there to make

music and share a love of music. It is a great cultural experience.

There are groups from all over the A worthwhile visit it was to

Llangollen, they came second in the Chamber Choir and third in the

There was an exciting community performance held featuring hundreds

of local schoolchildren, brought together to present a modern

We had the opportunity to follow the last-minute preparations in the

local school and made the director The children have risen to the

challenge splendidly. They have never performed in an opera before.

They have never done this type of music. And never on this sort of

scale. It is like going into battle. You have to be like the General on

top of the hill, you have cavalry and infantry and you try to bring

them together and keep an old repute as well as not lose too many

lives on the way! We have done the dress rehearsal. Loads of people

from other schools. It is good because you can make more friends.

It will be good for when we go to high school. I am really excited.

All my mum's friends are coming to see us. And all my dad's friends as

well. It is going to be great fun and I am a bit nervous. I have

already been on that stage before. So I am quite excited. I know what

it is like. With such a busy week, there was only one opportunity to

get the cast together Ron stage, and there was lots of looking

forward to arriving at the pavilion. We'll -- we will go every day when

it is on, it is a great time for our town. And the performance left

a huge impression on both the And now, to a mass performance by

the combined barbershop choirs and I saw your lips, I have your voice,

believe you me, I had no choice, and wild horses could not make me

stay away. I thought about Ammon live tonight, arms around you, good

and Pike, that is all I need for me to stay. Hello, Sara Edwards! It

has been so long, sour. What a great place to meet the French at

circle, surrounded by all these barbershop choirs. It is such a

good atmosphere. I had a permanent smile on my face. I am getting my

sequins sewn on this afternoon! have a very famous tenor with us

these days, meeting the people. This is my first time here!

Fantastic, wonderful! They might have been singing in harmony

outside but what was it like on stage? It was one of those

competitions that brought a smile to every face, especially when the

squire from Cheshire came on and gave a very rousing rendition of

Another competition that was new for me was the folk choir

competition, and in particular, this group from Taiwan, who sang an

incredible song about a train journey and told the story very

We will hear more from Wyn Evans later. I am joined by the First

Minister of Wales, Karen Evans. It is more than just an arts festival,

isn't it? It is. The festival was originally started after the Second

World War, and the message of peace has been strong throughout its

history. What do you enjoy about Llangollen, as a visitor? The fact

that you see so many different people from around the world. There

is scope dancing taking place. Tremendous variety. It helps people

to get together and understand each other, and the more you can do that,

the more chance you have got copies. What about the future of

Llangollen? There are cutbacks happening all around us. Has it got

a good future? There have been difficulties in the past few years,

and these can be resolved, and the festival can be put on a comforting

four years to come. We have had the power for 65 years. Llangollen is

not short of performing talent. These are images to be cherished.

The window on the world ceremony, when countries marched in

There are plenty of performances taking place across town. Here we

have a quiet from China, reforming a song about smiling, Europe by the

From the smiling choir at the Rover, to a smiling Russell Wotton,

performing at a packed pavilion, headline they -- headlining the

gala concert on Tuesday. I came here as a child of my grandparents

and my parents, so I have fond memories of this area, and of North

Do you have to stand back and think that I have got 4,000 people

hanging on every note? That is what makes this event special. It is

steeped in history as well. This gentleman has performed you, and Le

Channel Pavarotti, -- Luciana Pavarotti. It is a real thrill to

be here. It is not often that I walked out in front of one audience

and think, oh, dear. I feel blessed to be here this evening. Thank you

very much! People ask if I am pooling nervous before I go on

stage, and that was how I was three or four years ago when my life was

threatened by two brain tumours, but now nice like this are just a

dream come true for me. -- now it One of the many lovely things about

the international Eisteddfod is that the pavilion and field are so

close to the town, it gives everyone the chance to explore

everything that Llangollen has to offer. The street dance competition

was held in a local hotel, because the rain made it difficult to dance

on the streets. This dance group from Ghana did not seem to mind at

But winning this competition held in the Hotel were the Heritage

dancers from India, wrecker were winners here at Llangollen, but

this is the first time they have one insider hotel, and typical of

the mood at Llangollen, everybody I young Italian tenor came to

Llangollen for the first time with a choir from more dinner in Italy.

-- Modena. Leakey and we have my father, and we want, to win, it was

And this is the Pavarotti Trophy, for which representatives from five

categories battle it out for the choir of the world title. Last year

of this trophy went to the Philippines. When I arrived

everyone said, you have to hear the squire from the Philippines, they

are brilliant. And it has been fantastic. The level of performance

is very high. What did you make of the choir from the Adventist

University of the Philippines? piece is, they say, a gibberish

chant to encourage a good harvest. Their loud singing was so control.

Never sing louder than lovely, they say, and it never went cloud our

What did you make of the Chamber Choir? They signed a boss another

piece, which was a huge mistake because they started doing the

movements, and that is very difficult to pull off. It was like

watching my father dancing at the We saw quite a bit of movement Mthe

barbershop group. The affinity group. I was thinking I should put

on some sequins for this number. Somehow it pulled together this

movement, all kind of individuals, but singing as a quiet, a beautiful

blend. THEY SING: Son of a Preacher Then the ladies of the Mansfield

University Choir of the USA. What did you think of them? They were

sensational. They had been singing these angelic pieces all the way

through, then they sang something that was like something from the

film, Sister Act. They threw caution to the wind and really went

Last but by no means least, the Wessex Male Voice Choir. This was

the competition everybody was watching. Three Welsh choirs

competing, and so, for this English male voice choir to come to what we

think is the land of male voice choir singing, to competing -- to

compete against the Welsh Millwall's -- Welsh male voice

choirs, they sang a piece by a Welsh composer, and that went down

delay well in the hall. -- really So, if you were one of the

adjudicators, what would you do? would go for the Filipino choir.

They showed a lot of dynamic and sang with real heart, and that is

what I am looking for. Let us see if the adjudicator's agree with you.

The Adventist University of the It has been an incredible week at

Llangollen. We hope you have enjoyed the coverage. We can leave