Cultural icons will give North Wales economy a multi-million pound boost

Two major cultural events are set to attract unprecedented national coverage and bring in millions of pounds to North Wales this year, business leaders have heard.

News about the double economic boost provided by the 2025 National Eisteddfod that’s coming to Wrexham and the annual North Wales International Music Festival was revealed at a meeting of Wrexham Business Professionals.

A variety of national radio stations, some for the first time, will be providing coverage of the International Music Festival that’s being held at St Asaph Cathedral from September 11-20.

High points will be a broadcast by TV and radio host Alan Titchmarsh from the festival on Classic FM, the event’s artistic director Professor Paul Mealor who said that internationally renowned Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja will be among the star attractions.

The meeting also heard from organisers of the National Eisteddfod which will be held from August 2-9.

They revealed hosting the cultural extravaganza could be worth up to £16 million for the city’s economy.

Royal composer Professor Mealor, who wrote music for the King’s Coronation and the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, said this year’s event was shaping up to be a huge success.

The renowned composer, who was born in St Asaph and grew up in Connah’s Quay,  took up the role of the festival’s artistic director last year.

He said: “We are a multi-arts festival, primarily with music, whether that is classical music or jazz and folk music, and we have also introduced comedy, and music and mindfulness.

“The whole point of the festival, based in St Asaph, is to look at how the world can come to Wales, and how Wales, particularly North Wales, can go out to the world.

“One of the things I wanted to do when I took over as artistic director was to get hold of the main radio stations which promote classical music.

“So we now have as our partners BBC Radio 3, which has listening figures of two million per day, BBC Radio Cymru which is the radio station for the Welsh language, and BBC Radio 4 which will be coming to the festival for the first time this year.

“And our biggest success is we have Classic FM which just published their listening figures of eight million listeners a day.

“Classic FM will be broadcasting two concerts from the festival and that is the biggest thing available to us since starting.

“We are delighted to give some highlights of this year’s festival and we are delighted to welcome perhaps the greatest living tenor in the world Joseph Calleja.

“He’s coming to North Wales for the very first time and he is going to open the festival – we can’t believe that we have got him, but he’s coming.

“Alan Titchmarsh will be coming to interview the great TV and film composer Debbie Wiseman, who is going to be at the festival for the first time.

“She is going to talk about her life and music in an interview with Alan on Classic FM.

“We also have the BBC National Orchestra of Wales who are going to play work by Beethoven and the Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band who you will know from the movie Brassed Off.

“We celebrate the diverse cultures of North Wales and we also have our business connections as we grow and diversify.

“We are a 12-day celebration looking at everything from piano music to orchestral music and to jazz, as well as painting, drawing and sculpture, and comedy which happens in local bars.

“This year’s theme is Perceptions and we are looking at how music can affect the mind.”

Prof Mealor said fringe events around the festival itself take place in local bars and pubs and were popular with people who didn’t want to go into St Asaph Cathedral for the festival concerts.

He thanked care organisation Pendine Park for its support of the festival as headline sponsors via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust which supports arts and community activities.

The meeting of the Wrexham Business Professionals also heard from Llinos Ann Cleary and Elen Mai Nefydd, who are helping to organise the National Eisteddfod’s visit to the city in the summer.

They said about 170,000 visitors were expected in the city throughout the National Eisteddfod week – bringing in up to £16 million.

Llinos, a volunteer for the National Eisteddfod’s executive board, said there was a “mammoth task” ahead to raise £400,000 locally to help meet the costs of hosting the event.

She said the festival cost £5.7 million a year to run, and relied heavily on volunteers.

But she said the benefit to Wrexham in staging this year’s showcase would be huge.

She said: “The festival will benefit hospitality, and tourism especially.

“I think a lot of hotels have been booked up for months and months.

“The National Eisteddfod moves every year, and in 2024, the National Eisteddfod boosted the local economy by £16 million.”

Elen, who has a voluntary role with the National Eisteddfod, urged businesses throughout the region to get involved with the celebration.

She said: “The National Eisteddfod is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Europe, and in fact the biggest voluntary festival in Europe.

“We are looking for partners to engage with us, it’s really important you feel part of this fantastic festival that comes to our local area.

“When the festival comes here it will have an impact on us and the local economy, but we are also keen to look at what it leaves behind.

“It is about promoting our language, promoting our culture, and also giving a spotlight on Wrexham and showing Wales that we are proud of our city and what we have to offer.”

The Wrexham Business Professionals meeting also received a presentation from Heather Powell, head of service at the North Wales Music Cooperative.

The music cooperative provides work for 70 freelance musicians, teaches 5,000 youngsters weekly and this year is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

And the meeting also enjoyed a performance from talented youngsters from Ruthin’s Ysgol Brynhyfryd.

The Year 10 youngsters perform in a music ensemble called Ambrose with support from the music cooperative and showed off their musical skills to the business leaders at the meeting.

Louise Harper from Wrexham Business Professionals said: “Learning about the opportunities the North Wales International Music Festival and the National Eisteddfod will bring to the region was hugely interesting.

“And it was a pleasure to enjoy the music performed by the talented youngsters from Ysgol Brynhyfryd.”

Ian Edwards from Wrexham Business Professionals said: “Music, art and culture are vitally important to the vibrancy and prosperity of Wrexham and North Wales, so it’s wonderful to hear more about the exciting plans for these important celebrations.

“These events will draw in huge numbers of people to our area and they will provide a huge boost for many local businesses.”