Appeal for urgent business meeting on Carmarthenshire’s Eisteddfod
The leader of Llanelli’s business community has called for an urgent meeting with the organisers of the 2014 National Eisteddfod, a festival now being branded as ‘Carmarthenshire’s Eisteddfod’.
“Businesses throughout Carmarthenshire should be involved in discussions and preparations for the 2014 Eisteddfod, said Andrew Stephens, president of Llanelli’s Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
The appeal follows a host of ‘mixed messages’ about next year’s Eisteddfod, including disquiet about the cash Carmarthen Town Council is giving to the festival.
“I think it’s important that the festival organisers get a grip of the situation very quickly and work with businesses and traders to ensure that the 2014 Eisteddfod is a big success,” said Mr Stephens.
“On the one hand, we seem to have a row developing in Carmarthen over their contribution to what they perceive is an event which will benefit Llanelli.
“Here in Llanelli, we can give a contrary view and tell you that we have recent, very unhappy, memories of the 2000 Eisteddfod held in Festival Fields at the town’s Millennium Coastal Park.
“The reality of 2000 was that Llanelli businesses did not benefit from the Millennium Eisteddfod. Quite the opposite, in fact, because there was a very strict traffic arrangement in place with everyone being shuttled in and out of the Eisteddfod Maes on park and ride buses.
“Llanelli town itself was something of a ghost town during the 2000 Eisteddfod. Businesses, taxi drivers, pubs and traders will testify to that – even if others will claim there was an official net gain to the area.
“The reality is that in 2000, the so-called ‘Welsh pound’ benefit from the Eisteddfod followers was not felt in Llanelli.”
Mr Stephens said it was crucial that important lessons were learnt from that experience.
“I’m not knocking the Eisteddfod. It is, of course, one of Europe’s largest cultural festivals.
“But we need to make sure that it works for the host town and host county. Sadly, because the Eisteddfod is arriving in Llanelli (without any obvious public demand) as a Carmarthenshire Eisteddfod there are a number of mixed messages about the event.
“For example, the proclamation ceremony won’t be held in Llanelli, but elsewhere in Carmarthenshire. Then, you get the resentful tones that suggest Llanelli will reap all the benefits.
“The Eisteddfod organisers need to get a grip of the situation very quickly before it all gets out of hand. I know that the Leader of Llanelli Town Council, Council Carl Lucas, has also expressed concerns about the economic benefit to Llanelli. And I think festival organiser Hywel Wyn Edwards has suggested a meeting in October.
“Well, October is far too late. We need meetings now in order to make sure that the local economy gets the maximum benefit from the festival.
“I well recall how, in 2000, our Llanelli town centre music shop stocked up on Welsh CDs and ended up not selling one.
“From a trading point of view, the 2000 Llanelli Eisteddfod was an unmitigated disaster for Llanelli.”
Mr Stephens, who is also manager of Llanelli’s St Elli Shopping Centre: “None of us wants a repeat of that situation.
“We need some clarity from the eisteddfod organisers on the 2014 event and we need to be working with them now on things like providing decent transport links between the Maes and the town centre, staging events directly in the town centre, involving local traders on the Maes itself and other innovations like loyalty cards.
“There’s a whole shopping list of things to discuss and we need to get busy with them now. Yes, Llanelli needs to feel some economic benefit from the Eisteddfod, but we aren’t that greedy to think that Carmarthenshire as a whole can’t benefit as well.
“I would like to think that the 2000 Eisteddfod was a ‘one-off’ as far as Llanelli was concerned and that the next event will do far better in building a practical and mutually beneficial arrangement between the festival and the world of business.”
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