The Urdd National Eisteddfod, one of Europe’s largest youth festivals, will be coming to Brecon and Radnorshire in 2018.

The festival, which attracts around 90,000 visitors each year, will be held on the Royal Welsh Showground from May 28 – June 2 2018.

A public meeting was held in Ysgol y Bannau on November 10, where around 60 local people came to accept the proposal that the festival be held in the area.

Aled Siôn, director of the Urdd Eisteddfod, said he believed it was time for the Eisteddfod to return to the area “in order to promote the Welsh language, promote the work of the Urdd and, of course, to promote the arts”.

The Eisteddfod is a competitive festival where over 15,000 children and young people under the age of 25 take part in various competitions such as singing, dancing and performing.

The week-long event is the pinnacle of 220 eisteddfod competitions across Wales, with the winners at area level coming on to compete against the rest of Wales. It is an opportunity for all young people in Wales to celebrate their language and culture and to meet others from all corners of the country, as well as young people who compete from outside of Wales, including young people from Welsh-speaking areas of Patagonia in Argentina.

The Urdd Eisteddfod week is made possible by around three years’ hard work by local volunteers, who are usually asked to raise between £200,000 and £300,000. Local volunteers are also asked to help with a variety of tasks, such as stewarding competitions, helping on the caravan field and directing the 90,000 visitors around the site during the week.

If you’d like to get involved with the preparations, contact Bethan Jones, Menter Brycheiniog a Maesyfed at [email protected]