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Cerys Matthews Makes Return to Fringe

The Llangollen Fringe Festival has once again shown its prowess for fitting a quart into a pint pot by lining up a programme of top performers, TV names and international superstars!

The festival, which kicks-off on Thursday 17th July, based at its Llangollen Town Hall home, but this year incorporating as well St John's Church for acoustic music and the Hand Hotel as a Fringe Club, promises another eclectic mix of music, mayhem and comedy, especially the latter with four nights set aside for the most popular of Fringe offerings.

But the best is left until last with a triumphant return of Cerys Matthews, whose enthusiasm to play at the festival once again after her tremendous success in 2006 has meant an extra night being added on Monday 28th July.

“We’re really delighted with this year's Fringe line-up and believe it promises to be the best festival yet. It was looking excellent even before Cerys' event but with her on board it’s now looking pretty spectacular,” said Fringe Programming Director Roger Goodman.

First up on the evening of the 17th July will be North Wales blues sensation Cherry Lee Mewis. This little powerhouse of a singer has had great success with her album Little Girl Blue which covers songs by Memphis Minnie, Robert Johnson and Jeff Buckley.

Her music covers some 80 years of Blues and her gravely voice and performance style take its inspiration from the late, great Janice Joplin, singing with raw power, emotion, hurt and pain.
Certainly one of the greats of the blues in the making and a show not to miss!

Friday night is definitely music night on the 18th July when one of the strongest forces in acoustic music will have the Town Hall buzzing!

Show of Hands have built up a huge following which has seen them thrice sell out the Albert Hall and headline at major festivals such as Glastonbury and WOMAD.

Phil Beer and Steve Knightly, who together make up the group, play a defying mix of rock, roots, blues, country, trad, and often influenced by the music of other countries, it is played out on an array of instruments from slide guitar to fiddle, mandolin to even a South American cuatro!

They supported Peter Gabriel at the Eden Project last year and are, according to The Independent 'Formidable operators in the roots arena. A class act.'

Playing with them will be Miranda Sykes, one of the few female double bass players in England and an accomplished guitarist and vocalist.

If you want tickets for this one, you’d better be very, very quick!

Saturday 19th promises to be one of the most entertaining evenings of the whole event with Misty’s Big Adventure, whose infectious melodies, which are influenced by The Beatles, The Specials and Dexy’s Midnight Runners, will have the Town Hall bouncing!

They’re joined by New Yorker Thomas Truax whose show runs the fine line between unique and insane! Described by ‘Splendid Magazine’ as ‘an exceptional talent, unique and resistant to comparison’ Truax plays a collection of home made instruments, combined with loop pedals, guitars and lashings of imagination to create one of the most unusual and entertaining live shows you will ever see.

There then follows four nights of some of the finest comedy you’ll find anywhere with the first ever all Welsh language night of mirth at the Fringe getting it all underway, headlined by S4C’s own PC Leslie Wynn (Tudur Owen), on Sunday 20th.

Other highlights over the next three nights include Reginald D Hunter, who is becoming a regular on Have I Got News for You these days, Paul Foot, often described as the new Kenneth Williams or even Frankie Howard, Hal Cruttenden, the ex Eastenders actor turned stand-up as well as Alistair Barrie, Glenn Wool and Keith Donelly.

Jazz makes a welcome return to the Fringe line-up on Thursday 24th in the guise of a Jazz Guitar Celebration with Gary Potter and Billy Thompson.

A musical blend of all the major styles in Jazz guitar, this will be an evening to remember from musicians who play with Manfred Mann, Barbara Thompson, Kiki Dee, Helen Shapiro, Jools Holland and the Baron Knights!

The final Friday 25th, will see a band at the forefront of the British Asian fusion scene in Kissmet. The band, who are half Indian and half English, fuse the cultural traditions of both, including elements of bhangra, raags, rock and funk creating a truly unique sound.

The band performs in Punjabi, Hindi and English and blend dohl drums, tablas, guitar, keys and vocals.

What would have been the final evening of this years festival has been set aside for one of the most exciting folk rock bands to emerge for a great many years in teenage sensations Wheeler Street.

If you don’t think folk of any kind is for you, think again! This collection of 17 - 19 year olds are taking festivals the length and breadth of the country by storm and are fiercely passionate about their music.

One of the most entertaining and fun bands on the live scene, this is one definitely not to be missed…..

Sunday 27th sees what promises to be an outstanding night of virtuoso guitar playing with maestro Simon Jones bringing the very best of his flamenco art to the Town Hall.

Simon is no stranger to the Fringe, having played at the Festival on a number of occasions, but this will be the first time he has had the opportunity to ‘go solo.’

And last, but definitely not least, it’s Cerys Matthews on Monday 28th in a specially arranged extra night to this year's Fringe.

It goes without saying this concert will sell out extremely quickly so you’ll need to be quick!

Released on behalf of the Llangollen Fringe. For further information contact Nigel Davies on either 01490 412608 or 07978 228575.

Editors Note

Tickets for this years Llangollen fringe can be bought either on-line at www.llangollenfringe.co.uk or by phoning 01978 860600.



Tourism Chiefs Call for Co-ordinated Approach with Assembly

After one of the quietest Easters in recent years, Llangollen have added their weight to the outcry over the Welsh Assembly Governments road maintenance program for 2008 and are calling for a co-ordinated approach to the tourism industry in Wales.

Tourism chiefs throughout the Principality were left in a state of shock following the announcements, which promises chaos on some of the main arterial routes into North Wales throughout the main tourist season.

The Welsh Assembly plans will see a programme of temporary lane closures and 40mph speed restrictions on the A55, A494 and the A550 set to start on May 1.

"The Assembly do not seem to have learnt anything from a couple of years ago when we fought tooth and nail to prevent the A5 being closed throughout the summer.

It was intended to put Road Closed signs on the A5 at Chirk at that time but following a lot of pressure a compromise was reached, which was fine, but surely the effects of this action on the tourism industry should have been considered from the word go.

Now, that same lack of business consideration is being shown again and I am totally dumbfounded", said Judith Dodd, Chair of the Llangollen Enterprise.

Tourism is big business in Wales. Tourists spend over £8 million a day on trips to the Principality, amounting to around £3 billion a year. The industry also generates thousands of both full and part time jobs and is absolutely vital to the nations economy.

The Enterprise are now calling on Iuean Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister and Minister for Economy and Transport, to create a co-ordinated approach to tourism through all of the government agencies.

"This cannot continue. Competition from both domestic and overseas markets is of course strong and it is difficult enough maintaining our market share without our own government seemingly working against us.

Granted, there are occasions when emergency road repairs are needed but there is now no excuse for developing a co-ordinated programme of works from October on.

I sincerely hope these plans do not impact to severely on the tourism industry of the town as it would be fair to say that the start of the year in Llangollen has been very, very slow with the weather certainly working against us in what has been a really early Easter, said Mrs Dodd.

Work Commences on Historic Bridge Restoration

The first step in the £100k. Restoration of one of Wales best known river crossings has commenced with the commissioning of a full engineering report on the structure.

The report, costing £10k., has been commissioned by the partnership of Llangollen Town Council and Llantysilio Community Council, who are looking to restore the Llangollen chain bridge to its former glory and re-create the halcyon days as a popular tourist attraction.

Hopes are now high that the unique structure could even be completed this year, as the report will form the basis from which all work will be governed. It will also give a much clearer picture to the final costs of the rebuild.

The report is expected to be completed by the end of April.

We are extremely grateful to both Cadwyn Clwyd and the Welsh Assembly Government for funding this report on behalf of Llangollen.

I think both agencies are as eager as ourselves to see this wonderful bridge open to the public once again and the commissioning of this report is fundamental to achieving that.

This could be the start of some very exciting times for whole area around the Chain Bridge, especially when you add the current World Heritage Site bid for the Pontycysllte Aqueduct and Llangollen Canal, the source of which is at the Horseshoe Falls, just a short distance away from the bridge, said Llangollen Town Clerk, Ian Parry.

The project has been made possible by the donation of the bridge, and public access, to the town by local hotelier Stephanie Booth.

"This is terrific news and all credit to the two councils for their enthusiastic approach to the project.

This is undoubtedly a very exciting development for the area. To have the historic chain bridge open once again can only be good for the community and tourism industry alike," said Stephanie.

The work has been awarded to Opus, an international engineering consultancy who have built up an excellent reputation within bridge engineering over the years. They have offices in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as Rossett and have worked closely with both the public and private sectors all over the U.K.

It is exactly 80 years since work on the existing bridge began this year and it is absolutely terrific that work has commenced in such a special year. If funding is available then we will certainly try and get the bridge open this year as well, which would be extremely fitting, said Llangollen Town Mayor George Hughes.