Eisteddfod needs to look at Lorient

On his first visit to the National Eisteddfod field at Cardiff today (Monday) Rhodri Morgan, the Welsh Assembly's First Minister said that the Eisteddfod had a lot to learn from the Lorient Festival.

The Lorient Festival attracts 650,000 people, he said, compared to the 150,000 people who attend the Eisteddfod.

He said that it was easier for the Lorient Celtic Festival with its emphasis on music and the fact that it is held in the same place every year – the Eisteddfod goes to a different place every year, alternating between North and South Wales.

“It is easier if your festival is mainly musical and Breton music has become an international phenomenon,” he said.

“We can learn from Lorient – and no doubt Lorient can learn from us, particularly in matters outside the world of music, perhaps the literary side, which can portray Brittany as a modern country within France.”

He urged the Eisteddfod to keep changing and not to remain frozen in time.