Welsh performer chosen to represent Cymru at leading culture festival in France
Nation.Cymru staff
A Welsh teacher and singer has been invited to perform at one of France’s leading festivals following an appearance at a Welsh Government event.
Three years after winning hearts by performing both the Welsh and French national anthems ahead of Wales’ Six Nations clash in Paris, Welsh teacher and singer Jim Rowlands is once again flying the flag for Cymru in France.
Rowlands, who is based in France, has been invited to represent Wales at one of Brittany’s leading cultural festivals following a performance at a Welsh Government event earlier this year.
Having been invited by the Welsh Government to perform in France in March, Rowlands found himself, as he describes it, “in the right place at the right time”, with many of Brittany’s most influential cultural figures in attendance.
His performance led directly to an invitation from the festival’s director and president to represent Wales during the event on 6 and 7 August, including appearing alongside Welsh folk group Carreg Lafar for the festival’s dedicated “Nuit du Pays de Galles” (Night of Wales).
For Rowlands, the invitation marks a career highlight, he said: “It will be the proudest moment of my career.
“Although I was booked directly by the festival rather than being sent over officially, the whole opportunity came about thanks to the Welsh Government and the event they invited me to perform at.”
The appearance continues Rowlands’ role as an ambassador for Welsh culture in France. In 2023, he attracted attention after teaching the Welsh national anthem to a French military choir before joining them in performing both Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and La Marseillaise ahead of Wales’ Six Nations match in Paris.
Rowland, whose family still live in Graigfechan in Denbighshire, did have an amateur singing career of sorts, playing hundreds of festivals and concerts with a Celtic harp player and his Welsh folk rock band Mirrorfield in France, Wales and as far afield as Korea and Poland, but had never come close to any commercial success when he decided to call it a day
Rowlands says he is determined to make the most of the opportunity. He added: “I’ll be pulling out all the stops to ensure Cymru is seen and heard.”
His performances are expected to showcase Welsh music to Breton audiences while celebrating the enduring friendship between the two Celtic nations.
He will perform at the festival on August 6.
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