Eisteddfod stars announced

Honor Blackman and Barbara Dickson are among the stars set to appear at the 63rd Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, it was announced today.

The 2009 event was launched at a prestigious ceremony in Cardiff – with a James Bond concert one of the highlights.

Carl Davis, a renowned composer and conductor, directs the music of 007 with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Mary Carewe and Simon Bowman at the July event, while Blackman, who played Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, is due to be the host for the evening concert on the final day.

This year, for the first time ever, Llangollen will include an extra day of activities on Sunday, meaning the festival will offer six days of activities, from July 7 to 12.

Working closely with the local community, the eisteddfod will offer an array of artists performing on the field and in the town of Llangollen during the additional day, on July 12.

The annual festival, one of the world's largest global celebrations of music and dance, is to play host to an array of new and established international stars this year.

Dickson, a multi-million selling recording artist who recently celebrated 40 years in the music industry, together with chart-topping male quartet Blake, soprano sensation Natasha Marsh, and Jamaican born bass-baritone Sir Willard White are all set to perform.

They will join 4,000 competitors from all over the world at the event.

Many of the world's greatest stars have sung at Llangollen with some beginning their careers on the eisteddfod stage. The late Luciano Pavarotti was a competition winner in 1955 and returned as the world's most famous tenor to perform in 1995.