What does the future look like for Welsh festivals and events?
Most summer events and festivals have been cancelled or postponed for the second consecutive year due to the pandemic. One festival who has adapted by moving to a digital platform is the Hay Festival. The annual literature festival which is usually held in Hay on Wye, hosted some events at the town this year, but like last year, most events were held online with viewers able to listen to the writers from the comfort of their own home. Guto Harri, one of the festivals directors says that theres no substitute for the feeling of coming to the festival itself but acknowledges that there are some advantages of streaming the events online. Guto Harri, one of the festivals directors says that theres no substitute for the feeling of coming to the festival itself  He said: Anyone who has been to Hay knows how intimate, how special, how unique it is to be in this beautiful part of the world and queue to get into a tent and literally smell the writers as well as seeing and hearing them. Theres no substitute for that but there are advantages of a digital festival because we can beam in people from the other side of the world and we can draw in an audience from across the world. The best events normally would fill about 1200 people in a tent, you can add a nought to that very easily when you do it digitally so the reach of the festival has been phenomenal.  Although the digital festival has been a success, going forward Guto would like to see the festival go back to its old ways but also hang on to the best of the last two years at the same time. The cultural event was due to be held in Ceredigion in 2020 but was postponed because of the pandemic. Another festival that has been postponed for the second time is the National Eisteddfod. The cultural event was due to be held in Ceredigion in 2020 but was postponed because of the pandemic. This year, due to the fact that Covid restrictions are still in place, organisers have decided not to go ahead with the festival. Explaining the decision to postpone again, Elin Jones, who is the Chair of the Local Executive Committee for the Ceredigion National Eisteddfod said that it was a reasonably straightforward decision. The eisteddfod is an event that attracts people from all over Wales and beyond and we want it to happen in such a way that everybodys free to come and its not restricted in any way, she said. The decision in itself was reasonably straightforward. We saw that it wasnt going to be possible to hold an eisteddfod this year totally without restrictions, totally without social distancing, therefore we decided it was better to hold off for another year rather than restrict the eisteddfod in any way and just make sure that we were all really excited about holding it next year, hopefully.  She admitted that it would have been possible for the festival to go ahead this year, but with restrictions in place, it wouldnt have met the expectations of local organisers. When asked about the idea of holding an online festival instead of postponing, Elin said that it would not be a patch on holding the eisteddfod itself and that the people of Ceredigion were willing to wait another year. The National Eisteddfod itself held an online presence and some competitions last year. Its going to hold more again this year but that in no way compares to the event itself, she said. Its going to be a cultural event online and that will be good for people who are taking part in it and for people to see as well this year, but its not a patch on holding the national eisteddfod in a field somewhere. Thats what the people of Ceredigion want to see happening and were willing to wait for that and it will be great when it happens.  One festival who has adapted by moving to a digital platform is the Hay Festival. Adrian Lort-Phillips, one of the directors of the Big Retreat Festival in Pembrokeshire is worried that people will be a little concerned about attending festivals again when restrictions ease. I think there will be some concern, he said. But we take comfort from the immunisation programme thats happened and from what we understand now about being able to stage events. The fact that people are already buying tickets for next year tells us that people are ready and feel that they will be ready to come next year and actually start to come together and to enjoy a social event like.  Although the organisers are disappointed about cancelling the wellbeing retreat this year, theyre already planning for next year and are hoping to come back stronger. When asked if the festival could survive if some restrictions were still in place, Adrian was quite confident. He said: We have learnt not to underestimate the raw optimism of the people out there who want to get back to life. We have all had to undergo, and seen our children undergoing these regular tests just to go to school and they just do it. Its just a part of life and I think that people just want to get out there and while making it safe and doing all the things that we need to do, people will come and they will enjoy it.  On Saturday, May 15th, 500 people attended Tafwyl, a Welsh language music festival at Cardiff Castle. Last month, the Welsh government announced a list of nine mass pilot events as part of Wales road out of lockdown. On Saturday, May 15th, 500 people attended Tafwyl, a Welsh language music festival at Cardiff Castle. Attendees had to provide evidence of two negative Covid tests prior to being admitted. First Minister, Mark Drakeford said that this work was bringing us a step closer to a return to events in Wales.  You can watch Sharp End on ITV Cymru Wales at 10.45pm on Monday 7th June  Read more: