Festival Interceltique de Lorient readies for Year of the American Cousins

Stephen Price

Excitement is building for the Festival Interceltique de Lorient this August – but a lack of support from the Welsh Government this year means that Wales will be the only Celtic nation without a promotional stand.

Festival Interceltique de Lorient (FIL) is the largest annual festival of Celtic culture of its kind which is held in Lorient, Brittany.

The festival is a celebration of the cultural traditions of the Celtic nations and regions, highlighting music, dance and visual arts as well as sports and gastronomy, attracting around 800,000 people over 10 days in August.

Wales will have a delegation at the festival again this year, including three bands, a male voice choir, harpist and an artist.

The programme for 2025 includes performances by the Welsh Blue Grass band Taff Rapids, the contemporary folk of the Mari Mathias band, the world-famous Treorchy Male Choir, attending for the first time, as well as Welsh triple harpist Gareth Swindail-Parry. There will also be a special one-off performance by the award-winning chamber-folk trio VRï, on Wednesday 6^th.

Welsh representation

Representing Wales in the Celtic Odyssey performances is Jordan Price-Williams, cellist and singer with VRi, joining 13 other musicians from all the Celtic nations. Shamoniks (Sam Humprheys of Calan and NoGood Boyo) will also be continuing his DJ collaboration with Breton language rap artist, Krismenn.

There will also be an exhibition of stunning cultural photographs by Joann Randles, as part of the EuroCeltic Art exhibition, at the Palais des Congrès in the centre of Lorient. 

The Treorchy Male Choir will be taking part in the Grande Parade des Nations Celtes on Sunday 3^rd August, involving over 3000 artists, traditional costumes, dancers, musicians and massed pipe bands from all Celtic countries, parading through the streets of Lorient. 

The Welsh Government has supported a presence at the festival every year since 2008, but a decision has been made not to provide any financial support this year, despite the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, attending in 2023 and Welsh Government officials also attending last year. As a result, Wales will be the only Celtic nation at the festival without a promotional stand in the Place des Pays Celtes this year.

Disappointment

Antwn Owen-Hicks, Delegation Leader for Wales said: “We’re presenting a strong programme of artists again this year that reflects the ongoing confidence and development in our music and culture, tying in with the theme of the year.”

“However, it’s very disappointing that, after many years of developing a strong Welsh presence at the festival with Welsh Government support, we are now reduced to only those artists that the festival books directly.”

Antwn added: “A Memorandum of Understanding between the Welsh Government and Breton Regional Council is meant to support the development of cultural links and cooperative activities.

“Aside from the physical presence of a Wales stand, previous funding support also enabled an enhanced delegation of artists, providing opportunities for young and emerging artists to perform at a significant international festival, to very large audiences, such as Mari Mathias, AVANC, Cerys Hafana and Alffa to name a few.”