Neptunus brings a fresh new look and a state-of-the art performance pavilion to The National Eisteddfod of Wales

The National Eisteddfod of Wales, regarded as one of the world's greatest cultural festivals, is underway in Abergavenny in a spectacular venue built by temporary structure specialists Neptunus.

This is the first year Neptunus has provided the infrastructure to The National Eisteddfod of Wales, the internationally famous festival of music, literature and performance. The Northamptonshire-based company already supplies facilities to The Urdd National Eisteddfod, one of Europe’s largest touring youth festivals, and has been awarded a three-year contract by organisers of the National Eisteddfod which is being staged this year from July 29 to August 6.

The festival centrepiece is a new state-of-the-art studio-style pavilion with improved acoustics for the thousands of performing artists. On Friday afternoon Male Voice Choir Only Men Aloud were among the first acts to perform in the new-look theatre as they rehearsed ahead of Friday night’s concert to signal the official opening of this year’s National Eisteddfod.

April Trasler, Managing Director of Neptunus, said: “One of the key priorities was to upgrade the main performance pavilion which has historically been staged within a canvas ‘big-top’-style tent. We have built them a new pavilion in our award-winning Evolution II range which is far more robust with excellent acoustics and lighting, and is more akin to a permanent building.

“The pavilion is built in the same style of structure that we used for last year’s Rugby World Cup at Twickenham for which we won a national award. The National Eisteddfod of Wales organisers visited our Twickenham facility and were extremely impressed by the high quality and the superb acoustics within the building.”

HuwAledJones, Head of Technical Operations for the National Eisteddfod of Wales, (pictured with April) said: “Regular Eisteddfod visitors and performers will see that we have made exciting changes to the infrastructure of this year’s festival to enhance the overall experience. Our new temporary structure supplier Neptunus have brought a fresh new look to the Eisteddfod with their modern and sophisticated product range.
“In particular, their Evolution system brings significant improvements to the environment within our main performance pavilion — enabling us to improve the all-important acoustics, lighting and flooring that is so vital to performers and for the audience’s enjoyment. Four Alure Globe structures have also been incorporated into the festival lay-out to provide a new-look entrance and exhibition area, and to significantly improve our studio facility and another of our performance theatres.”

The 3000 square metre pavilion, which stands on 9 metre high legs and can accommodate an audience of 2,000 people, is just one of more than 30 temporary structures covering over 11,500 square metres which forms the Eisteddfod village. The pavilion is a clear span structure with opaque roof skins and a load-bearing roof for essential stage and broadcast lighting.

Neptunus’ structures will house concerts, exhibitions, ceremonies and competitions with thousands of performers taking part over the eight-day festival. Cultural events cover all genres of entertainment including performances by theatrical groups, dancers, choirs, folk singers, popular musicians, brass bands, classical artists, comedians, poetry recitals and scripture readings. There will also be arts and crafts exhibitions and science shows.Neptunus is also supplying facilities for cafes, media studios and Green Rooms.

The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the largest and oldest celebration of Welsh culture dating back to 1176 and is staged annually alternating each year between venues in North and South Wales. This year’s event is the first time it will have been held in Monmouthshire for more than 100 years and is expected to attract up to 150,000 visitors.

Trasler added: “We have built an excellent reputation in recent years with our role in supplying structures to The Urdd Eisteddfod and we are sure that our reputation with be further enhanced at The National Eisteddfod of Wales. Our clear span Evolution range with rigid, high-quality flooring and load bearing roof makes it the ideal product for the performance arts where good acoustics and solid floors are so important for the artists.”

Since it was introduced to the UK the Evolution has become Neptunus’ flagship product and the structure of choice for organisers of major shows, exhibitions, sporting events and product launches. It is widely regarded as the most technologically advanced structure available in today’s market with the appearance of a permanent building which means it can be adapted for both long-term and short-term accommodation requirements.

About Neptunus
Founded nearly 80 years ago, Neptunus remains a family-run business known for the creativity and innovation of its temporary structures. With a head office in The Netherlands and divisions in the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Poland and Austria, Neptunus has a proven track record in the design, manufacture and delivery of all types of temporary buildings. Neptunus Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Neptunus BV based in The Netherlands. Its UK operation is located in Swan Valley, Northampton, where the company has purpose built offices, storage and maintenance facilities. Neptunus has over 450,000 square metres of high quality structures in a wide range of styles. With cassette flooring systems, Neptunus' flexible and spacious structures provide ideal solutions for short-term or longer-term rental requirements. For more information visit: www.neptunus.co.uk

For more information, please see:
www.neptunus.co.uk

PAUL SMITH ASSOCIATES
12th July 2016