Eisteddfod organisers confident

Concerts, theatre and dance performances are all part of the Eisteddfod

National Eisteddfod organisers are confident that extra measures will ease congestion fears following bad weather, as the event started in Flintshire.

Around £50,000 has been spent improving rain-affected areas around the "maes", the main festival field, in Mold.

Extra car parking facilities and shuttle buses from the town have also been laid on for the eight day event.

There were 16,710 visitors on the opening day, slightly more than on the first day in Swansea last year.

Elfed Roberts, chief executive of the festival, said everything in the run up had been working "smoothly".

The annual festival is a celebration of Welsh culture and features concerts, theatre, competitions in singing, reciting, folk dancing and art, and a centre for Welsh learners.

Just over 1,000 attended the opening concert on Friday night. The target is 150,000 visitors for the whole event.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan, who was recently treated in hospital for two partially-blocked arteries, will not be attending.

The weather is now fine, everything is working smoothly and it's expected to be a very successful week for the Eisteddfod and all involved Elfed Roberts, chief executive of the National Eisteddfod

But he sent organisers his best wishes for the success of the festival, which he described as a "wonderful showcase of Welsh culture and talent".

Mr Roberts said he had high hopes for the success of the event.

"The weather is now fine, everything is working smoothly and it's expected to be a very successful week for the eisteddfod and all involved," he added.

More roads, walkways and tracks had been put in place for this year's event than in any eisteddfod to date, a spokesman said.

"Around 6,000 tonnes of stone from the local quarry and over 2,500 tonnes of tarmac planings have been used to create these additional roads," he said.

Around 15 acres originally allocated for parking on the Pentrehobyn estate - the location for the festival - were "extremely" affected by the recent downpours but the landowner has allocated a further 20 acres to compensate for this, said organisers.

In addition, the eisteddfod has been given permission to use Clwyd Theatr Cymru and County Hall car parking facilities for the evening concerts on 4 and 5 August and Saturday, 11 August.

Bus service

From 1800 BST on those nights, a bus service will be provided to take people to the Eisteddfod site and back after the concerts.

Organisers are urging visitors to "travel as greenly as possible" and have suggested car sharing and public transport as more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

Buses will also be travelling to the Eisteddfod site every 20 minutes from Mold bus station.

Festival buses will also leave from Flint, Wrexham and Chester train stations.

The festival has also been given permission to use further land adjacent to the caravan site so that caravans that were to be placed on badly-affected areas can be moved.

People using the caravan site will not be allowed to move their cars once they have parked so that the site is not disturbed further.