THE SHOW MUST GO ON, BUT FESTIVAL NEEDS YOUR COMMITMENT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

Everything is in place, in just over a month an international line up of world renowned musicians and performers will be heading for the Faenol estate in North Wales to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of Faenol Festival.

At a press conference this morning, Bryn Terfel said “We have organised a wonderful celebration of 10 years of Faenol Festival. World renowned pop superstars Westlife are looking forward to returning and wowing the crowds with their explosive performance, timeless favourites and new songs. Likewise Rolando Villazon – now world renowned for his amazing tenor voice and engaging trickster personality - is excited to be coming back. None of us who witnessed his performance alongside Angela Gheorgiu in 2006 will ever forget him hitting crystal clear top Cs whilst juggling oranges, and I’m sure he’ll top even that this year! Joining Rolando and myself will be the incredibly talented soprano Sylvia Schwartz, and Romanian mezzo Ruxandra Donose. New Zealand songstress Hayley Westenra enchanted our audiences in 2003 and returns this year having become a household name. Alongside her, our own Welsh superstar Rhydian makes his debut on our festival stage and is sure to wow audiences with his own unique blend of wonderful music and charismatic performance. Tan y Ddraig is bigger and better – Welsh and English bands at the very top of their game and the UK charts uniting to light the blue touch paper of our rock and pop extravaganza and then of course Al Murray the Pub Landlord and friends to end the Festival on a hilarious high note! I’m certainly looking forward to welcoming these artists to this corner of Wales and to welcome audiences back to the Faenol Festival.

People have often said that Faenol Festival is a crazy idea – the world coming to a field just outside Caernarfon! But it’s always worked, always been amazing. I have to admit however, that these challenging economic times are having an impact upon us and we’ve seen a significant slow down in ticket sales following the government’s budget announcement.

We are not alone. Our situation is matched by other events organisers across Wales and the UK. My hope is that by clarifying our situation we can help audiences to understand that these events need their commitment sooner rather than later, and that their commitment is vital for the continuation of these events through these challenging economic times. We have to work together – organisers and audiences to make these wonderful, rich activities viable.

We have a great line up and our audience have been enthusiastic and so supportive over the past ten years. I know things are tough economically, but I am hopeful that our audience will give us the signal we need right now. To that end, I urge anyone who wants to attend Faenol Festival this year to buy their ticket within the next ten days, and commit to coming along and enjoying a wealth of world class entertainment.”

Antony Warren of Universal Music, promoters of this years’ event explained the situation further: “Many festivals and events worldwide are now seeing audiences tending to wait until the last minute before buying their tickets, and this in turn is putting organisers of those events under considerable pressure to decide early as to how best to proceed in a responsible manner. We have worked very hard with Bryn to bring a world class line up to Faenol this year, one that celebrates the best of the last 10 years whilst moving forward with a new structure. We are aware of the terrific support that the audiences of the Faenol Festival have given over the past 10 years, and are hopeful that they will come out now in force to support Bryn, his wonderful guest artists, and the Festival in this 10^th anniversary year. We want to secure not just this year’s event, but the Festival’s future too.” 

Sir David Henshaw, Chairman of the Faenol Trust said: “We’ve made a commitment to the locality, to put on a festival – a spectacle that will draw visitors and the world’s attention to this corner of Wales. This festival usually provides an injection of £3million into the local economy and as we saw last year, losing that has a significant impact on the area. However, we have to be financially responsible. While public money helps to support investment in the Festival, essentially it is income from ticket sales that sustains it. Keeping this festival alive requires commitment from us as the Trust and Universal the Producers, the local authority, local business, the Assembly and our audience.”

Cllr Dewi Lewis who leads on the economy and community for Gwynedd County Council said: “The Faenol Festival provides a vital cash injection into the local economy each year. Local businesses need this now more than ever, and people need some light relief in these strained financial times. I hope that the Festival will gain the immediate level of support and sales necessary for them to confidently move ahead with putting on a wealth of world culture that we can all celebrate this August Bank Holiday.”

Bryn ended the conference by saying: “We have a great line up - some of the best music in the world – Westlife, Rolando Villazon, Hayley Westenra, Rhydian and a host of great Welsh and British bands for Tan y Ddraig, plus the new Faenol Festival Food and Craft Festival. The Faenol audience have been wonderfully enthusiastic and supportive over the years and so I would ask anyone who is thinking of coming along to make their commitment now and buy their ticket in the next 10 days so that we can concentrate on making this 10^th Anniversary year a truly memorable musical feast that will live long in the memory.”

Festival organisers are keen to communicate one important change in the Festival this week, being that due to unavoidable logistical reasons related to a change of artist availability the Battle of Britain afternoon performance starring Hayley Westenra and Rhydian will be moved from Monday 30^th to Saturday 28^th August and will now start at 12.30. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this causes.  All tickets that have been purchased for the Battle of Britain performance on Monday will automatically be valid for the rescheduled performance on Saturday 28^th. Those patrons who are unable to attend on this date should return their tickets to the point of purchase for a full refund.

The line up for Faenol Festival 2010 now looks like this:

Friday 27^th August 2010 – Westlife

Doors – 17.30
Show Starts – 20.00

Seats – £42.50
Grass - £35.00

Saturdays 28^th August 2010 – Battle of Britain 70^th Anniversary Show starring Hayley Westenra and Rhydian

Doors – 12.00
Show – 13.00

Seats - £25
Grass - £20
Kids Grass under 16 - £15

Saturday 28^th August 2010 – Opera Gala with Bryn Terfel, Rolando Villazon, Sylvia Schwartz and Ruxandra Donose

Doors – 17.30
Show Starts 20.00

Seats - £42.50
Grass - £35.00

Sunday 29^th August 2010 – Tan y Ddraig 10: The Feeling, Athlete, Shed Seven, Yr Ods, Race Horses, Masters in France and Pete Lawrie

Doors – 15.00

Seats - £35.00
Grass - £28.50

Monday 30^th August 2010 – Al Murray The Pub Landlord and friends! Including: Ed Byrne, Lloyd Langford, Milton Jones, Tudur Owen

Doors – 17.30
Show star – 19.30

Seats - £32.50
Grass - £25.00

All tickets are available from the Festival website www.faenolfestival.com or by calling the Venue Cymru box office on 01492 872000, Galeri Caernarfon on 01286 685222, Silver Star Holidays on 01286 672333 or Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay on 02920 636464.

A 10% discount is available for bookings of 10 or more. All box office, telephone and internet bookings will be subject to booking fees, however, no booking fees will be charged for personal callers to these box offices paying by cash or cheque.

Figures from an evaluation commissioned by The North Wales Events Commission show that on average, between 2005 and 2007 Faenol Festival contributed just under £3 million a year to the local economy.

FOOD, DRINKS and ALCOHOL POLICY FOR FAENOL FESTIVAL 2010

Picnics may be brought onto site for the Westlife, Battle of Britain and Opera Gala shows.  For those not wishing to bring their own picnics there will be full bar and catering outlets on site.

For Tan y Ddraig 10 and the Al Murray, the pub landlord, and friends performances no food or drinks (with the exception of small, sealed bottles of water) may be brought on site.  Full bar and catering facilities will be provided.

Faenol Festival Trust is working closely with North Wales Police to prevent under-age drinking on site and to safeguard the enjoyment and safety of our audiences throughout the Festival.

Each of the Festival nights is subject to the following policy: 

• No person under the age of 21 will be allowed to enter the arena in possession of alcohol
• No person under the age of 21 will be allowed to purchase alcohol from the bar in the arena, unless they produce identification to prove they are 18 years old or over.