First Minister to represent Wales at inaugural Celtic Forum in Rennes
Mark Drakeford will represent Wales at the Celtic Forum and the Interceltique Festival in Brittany this week.
The inaugural Celtic Forum will take place in Rennes on Thursday 3 August, ahead of the start of annual Interceltique Festival in Lorient, which begins on Friday (4 August).
The Celtic Forum brings together leaders from the Celtic nations and regions, offering an opportunity to strengthen relationships and discuss areas for potential collaboration.
The First Minister will hold bilateral meetings with other Celtic leaders during the Forum.
Festival Interceltique de Lorient is the largest annual celebration of Celtic culture of its kind and celebrates the traditions of the Celtic nations and regions, with music, dance and visual arts, sports and gastronomy.
Last year the festival attracted around 900,000 people over 10 days.
As a key part of the Wales in France year, there will be a strong Welsh presence at the festival this year, including musical performances by folk trios VRï and The Trials of Cato, as well as Only Boys Aloud and harpist Meinir Olwen.
There is also an exhibition of photographs by Scott Taylor and a dance production, Qwerin, to be performed in the Théâtre de Lorient.
Historic links
“The Celtic Forum is an excellent opportunity to come together as Celtic nations and regions, to build on our cultural and historical links and seek out areas for future collaboration, such as marine energy,” Mr Drakeford said.
“Ahead of the Rugby World Cup later this year, it’s also an opportunity to celebrate the Wales-France relationship, revitalising existing partnerships and planting the seeds for future collaborations in culture, sport, the economy and innovation.”
Antwn Owen-Hicks, delegation leader for Wales at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient, added: “We’re presenting a strong programme of artists in Lorient, which reflects the ongoing development and confidence in our arts and culture.
“There’s always a lot of interest in the Welsh artists amongst the festival goers. From Only Boys Aloud’s songs to Cerys Hafana’s sublime triple harp playing or the joy of Qwerin queer street folk-dance, our programme this year will provide an opportunity to discover Wales’ talents and culture and entice the audience to visit Wales.“
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Please could the representative of the R.O.I tell Mr Drakeford how well they are doing since leaving the union, and it’s time for him to let go of the safety blanket, and let Cymru make it on the world stage as a seperate, independent nation.
It is not a ‘safety blanket’ but an ‘iron curtain’ that intends to exploit our country and its resources.
I would like to know Mr Drakeford’s real reasons for surrendering our country to an entity which has a completely different political system then what we want here in Cymru.
Not only a different system, but also a different ideology, yet he still clings onto it, as if we are getting a good deal. It’s like Brexit in reverse, where we left to suffer, he choses to stay and suffer.
As Bob Marley sang “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery…” Come on Mark Drakeford: “won’t you help to sing these songs of freedom.”
We could not have a better representative.The man is CAWR.