Eisteddfod chair slams ‘greed’ of those who may have ‘fraudulently’ claimed free tickets for refugees

Tickets for the National Eisteddfod in Ceredigion that were meant for refugees and disadvantaged families may have been claimed “fraudulently” according to the chair of the festival’s executive committee.

Elin Jones, who is also the Senedd Member for Ceredigion where the Eisteddfod will take place, said that they would be going through the tickets to invalidate those claimed by the wrong people.

Writing in Welsh and English on her Facebook page she said that a unique code “might have been wrongly shared” with “people who are more city than Ceredigion”.

That had been taken advantage of by people “and at the expense of children in poverty and refugees,” she said.

“I understand that a large number of tickets that had been set aside for free for disadvantaged families for the Ceredigion Eisteddfod were claimed fraudulently/mistakenly over the weekend,” she said.

“It is possible that a unique code has been shared, it is possible that some who are not deprived at all, or locally, have made requests for free family tickets, and done so for every single day of the week!

“The Eisteddfod will now (at a time when there is plenty of other things to do) have to go through these applications and invalidate them. You know who you are people, you think you’re clever?

“Not you, you greedy – and that at the expense of children in poverty and refugees – that’s who are eligible for these tickets.

“Shame on you. Game’s up.”

‘Extra work’

The National Eisteddfod later put out a statement to express their own disappointment with what had happened.

“We support the comments of the Chair of the Ceredigion executive committee and note our huge disappointment regarding what’s happened over the weekend,” a spokesperson said.

“Yes, it’ll create hours of extra work for our team, but far worse than that is the fact that people felt it was acceptable to apply for tickets reserved for disadvantaged families and new visitors, knowing full well that they weren’t eligible.

“We’ll be working with Ceredigion County Council and our other partners to ensure that these tickets reach the right people, and that they have an excellent visit to the Pentref Plant and the Eisteddfod.

“We will not be commenting any further on this matter.”

‘Easy and safe’

Daily and weekly Maes tickets can be bought online here.

Details on how to get to the Maes are available online. Bus timetables and links to tickets available here.

This year, the Maes is on the outskirts of Tregaron, with the car parks, caravan site, campsite and Maes B all located close to each other and within ten minutes’ walk of the town centre, with no need for shuttle buses to get to the Maes.

Eisteddfod Chief Executive, Betsan Moses, said that they were looking forward to welcoming people to Tregaron and that public transport was available.

“One of the strengths of the Eisteddfod is that we travel around Wales, visiting urban and rural areas in turn, supporting, motivating and inspiring communities all over our country,” she said.

“This year, we’re in a rural area, and are very grateful to Rhydlewis and Llew Jones bus companies for organising additional public transport services in the area so that our visitors can use public transport to visit from the Aberystwyth, Lampeter and Aberaeron area, without having to use the car, with the last buses leaving the Maes after the concerts and gigs on Llwyfan y Maes have finished. Tickets must be bought from our website beforehand.

“We’re also encouraging our visitors to walk, cycle and use car sharing services where possible, and all the details are included on our website.

“If you have to use the car to come and see us, the message is simple – follow the signs. We’ve been working closely with the Council and the emergency services to create our transport plan for the festival.

“We all want to avoid congestion and make sure that the journey to the Maes is easy and safe for everyone. So please help us help you by following the yellow Eisteddfod signs.”