Wales returns to the world’s biggest celebration of Celtic cultures

Following last year’s hugely successful ‘Year of Wales’ at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany, Wales is once more represented by a strong delegation of performers in the world’s biggest celebration of Celtic arts and culture, taking place this year between 2nd -11th August.

15.07.2019

Arts Council of Wales, supported by the Welsh Government, has put together a strong programme featuring 10 music acts and an exhibition of photography. The main festival programme includes appearances by The Trials of Cato, NoGood Boyo, harpist Gwen Màiri and Aber Valley Male Voice Choir. They will also be performing at the Wales Pavilion alongside Ofelia, Lowri Evans & Lee Mason, Sera, VRï, Kizzy Crawford and for the first time, the National Youth Folk Ensemble of Wales AVANC. A series of images by award-winning photographer Glenn Edwards, that chart the journey from north to south Wales along the A470, will be displayed in the Euro Celtic Art exhibition.

Antwn Owen-Hicks, Delegation Leader for Wales and project manager for the Welsh Government backed presence said: "Once again, we’re presenting a strong programme of artists that reflects the ongoing confidence and development in our music and culture, providing a great legacy for the Year of Wales in 2018. There’s always a lot of interest in the Welsh artists amongst the Festival’s audiences and our programme this year will provide an opportunity for them to discover some great new music.”

UNESCO has designated 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages. The Arts Council of Wales is supporting the Welsh Government to raise the profile of the Welsh language and other indigenous languages by uniting with UNESCO to protect and celebrate the wide-variety of indigenous languages around the world. Our programme at Lorient will feature Welsh language artists, performing in a variety of styles and genres, to highlight our vibrant, living language.

The Wales Pavilion, in the centre of the Festival, provides visitors with an opportunity to listen to music performances throughout the day and into the early hours, enjoy some Welsh beers and discover Wales as a great tourism destination.

Sera is an artist who was recently been selected for the BBC Gorwelion/Horizons scheme, which is supporting her performances at the Festival. AVANC is a project run by trac, Wales’ folk development agency, which will also be supporting the band’s performances at the Festival.

The Wales Pavilion will be designed and run by Cardiff-based production company Orchard, who will also be making a one-hour programme about the festival for S4C.

Wales will be represented in Lorient by:

Aber Valley Male Voice Choir, AVANC, Glenn Edwards, Gwen Màiri, Kizzy Crawford, Lowri Evans & Lee Mason, NoGood Boyo, Ofelia, Sera, The Trials of Cato, VRï.