• 3 months ago
We speak to people in Pontypridd as they prepare to host one of the biggest cultural festivals anywhere in Europe, as the annual National Eisteddfod comes to town.
Transcript
00:00Well, I think it's a wonderful thing for not only the Welsh culture, but for the local
00:08area as well. Many, many people here are not familiar with the tradition of the Eisteddfod,
00:17although it's got a history of extremely interesting legacy, I should use.
00:25I think it's going to bring a lot of trees into Pontypridd. I think the people of Pontypridd
00:32are being put out with all this, you can't go to town, you can't go here, you can't go
00:37there. And my main object is the children are on a seven-week holiday now and they can't
00:42go down the path.
00:43You know, that's the one thing, towns like ours is needed. We've got a lovely Welsh school
00:50and grandchildren speaking Welsh.
00:54I think it's very exciting. It's a brilliant opportunity for the town, especially the local
00:57people. The shop Cwcmodan, which I'm with, we suffered floods quite bad in 2020. I think
01:04it's a time for us and we rebuilt. And this is such a brilliant opportunity for local
01:07businesses, especially, I know it's only for a week, but I think it'll bring such traction
01:12to Pontypridd, put it back on the map. You know, it's been in decline for quite a couple
01:16of years now, a lot of shops, a lot of closures, but I think maybe this can revitalise the
01:20community again.
01:21I think it's a really, really positive move because there'll be lots of people into the
01:25town and they'll see what a lovely town it is, what facilities there are. There's a brilliant
01:30market, there's loads of lovely shops and some independent shops as well. And I think
01:35it's great for the community.
01:37It's going to be really good for the town. It's going to bring in a lot of tourism. It's
01:40going to bring in a lot of new people to the town as well. And it's going to bring in a
01:44lot of money to the economy of the town as well. The one thing I am a little bit worried
01:49about, because I do live local, is the traffic levels. But I am confident that the council
01:54have got all of the traffic levels sorted out.