Tribute to Dylan Thomas at this year's Llangollen Eisteddfod

The reading from actor, writer and director Celyn Jones will form the centrepiece of a mini programme of events to celebrate the literary magician’s 15-minute masterpiece on the BBC’s Home Service when he visited in 1953.

The vivid verbal images were delivered in Thomas's deep, resonant voice.

But it’s been revealed that the historic broadcast very nearly didn’t happen because at one point Thomas lost his notes on the way back to the BBC’s studio in Cardiff.

It was the same year that the late Queen Elizabeth also attended the eisteddfod shortly after her Coronation.

The festival had been established six years earlier under the dark shadow cast by the Second World War as a way of promoting peace through musical harmony and dance.

This year's event gets underway on July 4, and the competitions and concerts continue until July 9, with thousands of singers and dancers from around the world due to take part.

The eisteddfod’s executive producer, Camilla King, said organisers were particularly keen to celebrate the anniversary of Thomas’s memorable broadcast.

She said: “Although sadly Dylan Thomas died in New York a few months after his visit to Llangollen, his priceless legacy will live on because he is rightly regarded as one of the literary greats.

“We felt it was particularly appropriate to remember not only his brilliant broadcast but also the wider canon of his work which turned him into a superstar poet.”

The activities will include a presentation by Professor Chris Adams, vice chair of the eisteddfod and a member of its archive committee, who revealed the poet was paid the princely sum of 20 guineas for his endeavours.

He said Thomas's way of working involved writing notes on cigarette packets, and said the poet had been in a panic on the way back to Cardiff when he feared he had lost the material.

"Thankfully, the notes came to light in the nick of time and the finished, finessed piece has been described as a classic example of his genius with words."

Each day features a full programme of competitions in the Pavilion and evening concerts, with Alfie Boe opening the evening shows.

There will also be a line-up of stalls and exhibitions on the field along with the competitors from around the world, many in colourful dress, while three open-air stages run a stream of live performances.

Entertainment on the outside site includes workshops, talks, international showcases, outdoor theatre performances, circus skills, sound bath sessions, yoga, belly dancing, beginner’s Welsh and salsa.

The Globe Stage will feature music acts spanning folk, jazz, world and indie and there will also be an international flavour to the cuisine available in the new Globe Food Court.

For tickets or for more on Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and its competitions and concerts as well as how to get to it and where to stay go to international-eisteddfod.co.uk or check out facebook.com/llangollen