A county councillor has labelled the decision to move the Urdd Eisteddfod to Meifod as “disappointing”.
Organisers behind one of Europe’s largest youth festivals announced this month that the Urdd Eisteddfod will move from its planned location of Machynlleth to Meifod.
Machynlleth was announced in 2019 as the location of the popular festival, but 15 months ahead of the 2024 event, an announcement was made on March 2 that the festival would be held on the fields of Mathrafal Farm in Meifod, 30 miles away.
Machynlleth county councillor Mike Williams said: “It’s most unfortunate, both for businesses and for individuals.
“On both a business and individual level people were looking forward to a big event like that arriving in Machynlleth, and have been for a while given that it was announced a few years ago.
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"It’s a major youth event, one of the biggest in Europe, so I can imagine it would have provided a welcome boost to Machynlleth’s businesses and culture.
“Obviously the pandemic happening since the announcement factors in, and I can understand the need for the Eisteddfod to be somewhere with more space.
“If that’s the best location for them then they are welcome to move even if we find the move unfortunate. It is what it is, even if we can’t help but feel somewhat disappointed.”
The Urdd Festival said that several factors were in favour of Meifod instead of Machynlleth including the area's traffic system, flood risk and convenience to host a youth festival.
Glantwymyn councillor Elwyn Vaughan said: “Ideally, Machynlleth would be the location, but you can’t make up land or suitable place that doesn’t exist.
"After all it is a Montgomeryshire eisteddfod not just Machynlleth and it’s there to boost the local economy and Welsh language communities.
“You need 100 acres of flat, dry land without any problems with power lines restrictions for temporary buildings and that simply does not exist in Machynlleth itself.”
The move to Meifod will represent the first time since 1988 that the Urdd Eisteddfod will take place in Montgomeryshire.
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