Sir Tom Jones kicks off Llangollen Eisteddfod

Welsh superstar Sir Tom Jones kicked off a week of live performances at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod on Tuesday evening.

The six-day festival, which takes place every summer, runs until Sunday and is expected to draw in 50,000 fans to the Denbighshire town.

Treforest-born Sir Tom, who turned 84 last month, made his first ever appearance at the event, which has been running for 77 years.

The eisteddfod organisers said his performance in the pavilion was a "truly unforgettable" start to the week.

Some big names had already performed at Llangollen in the days leading up to the eisteddfod, including Bryan Adams, Paloma Faith and the Manic Street Preachers.

The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is a festival held each July in the Denbighshire town.

It began in 1947 as a means of healing the wounds of World War Two, when choirs from seven different countries travelled to Llangollen to compete.

Since then, more than 400,000 competitors from over 140 nationalities and cultures have performed on the Llangollen stage.

A parade is also held every year, during which local people and visitors take to the streets to dance, sing and play musical instruments.

The Parade of Nations - which this year will be held on Wednesday 3 July - is free to attend.

By night, artists perform on the festival's main stage inside a pavilion. Previous headline acts have included Status Quo, McFly and UB40.

The days leading up to the eisteddfod have seen some big names performing at Llangollen, including Bryan Adams, Manic Street Preachers, Suede and Paloma Faith.

This year's eisteddfod week also features a star-studded line-up, including Sir Tom Jones on the opening night, jazz artist Gregory Porter on Friday, and singer Katherine Jenkins on the Sunday.

A number of other artists will perform in the days that follow, including Nile Rodgers on 11 July and Jess Glynne on 12 July.

Dave Danford, the Llangollen Eisteddfod's artistic director, said this year's event would be "the most high-profile festival for decades".

"We are keen to stress that the core elements of our festival that long-time supporters know and love will remain," he added.

"As well as bringing some of the world's biggest selling artists to Llangollen, our peace message will be at the heart of what we do, our competitions remain at an incredibly high standard, and this year our field will be bustling with activity on our outside stages."

The eisteddfod runs from Tuesday 2 July until Sunday 7 July.

From Wednesday to Saturday, gates will open at 08:30.

On Sunday, the site will be open between 10:00 and 16:00 for a family fun day, before opening again at 17:00 for the evening concert.

More than 3,000 participants from 34 different countries, including Australia, Burundi, Canada, China, Japan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe, will be competing at Llangollen this year.

"We can't wait to welcome the world to Wales yet again in July," said Mr Danford.

Remaining tickets for the headline shows and daytime events are available on the eisteddfod's official website.