Literature Wales announces funding for major festivals and events to celebrate Roald Dahl 100

The centenary of the birth of Roald Dahl – the World’s No.1 storyteller – will be celebrated across Wales this year thanks to Invent your Event, a new funding scheme from Literature Wales and Welsh Government. The scheme will engage the whole of Wales in literature, creative writing and reading by offering financial support for events and activity organised to celebrate Roald Dahl 100 in Wales.

Literature Wales today announced which organisations will receive funding through Chapter 1 of Invent your Event, which offers financial support to larger festivals and events, residencies and extended programmes of activity. Libraries, schools, arts centres, castles, festivals, and community centres across Wales will be taken over by Human Beans of all ages as they celebrate the magic of Roald Dahl’s words, stories and characters.

Applications were received from some of Wales’ leading arts and cultural organisations. In the first round alone, Invent your Event funding has been awarded to: Hay Festival, Oriel Davies (Newtown), Galeri Caernarfon, The National Eisteddfod of Wales, The Urdd National Eisteddfod, North Wales International Music Festival, Spread the Word Festival (Merthyr Tydfil), Swansea International Festival, Denbighshire County Council, RawFfest – a new national youth arts festival for Wales, and Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival. Further details about the planned activity and event programmes will be announced soon on the new Roald Dahl 100 Wales website: www.roalddahl100.wales

Invent your Event is funded by the Welsh Government and is supported by the Roald Dahl Literary Estate.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates, said: “With the announcement of these first events to receive funding, the momentum is building for the celebration of Roald Dahl 100 in Wales. I hope that these events will inspire many to delve into Roald Dahl’s work during 2016 and beyond and open a whole new world of discovery and creativity.”

Roald Dahl is loved by millions of people, young and old, around the world. However not many people know that the world’s number one storyteller was actually Welsh. Literature

Wales, the national company for the development of literature, is on a mission to change that, and to bring Roald Dahl firmly back to Wales.

Literature Wales Chief Executive, Lleucu Siencyn, said: “In 2016 we plan to bring Roald Dahl back to Wales. Thanks to support from the Welsh Government’s Major Events Unit and the Roald Dahl Literary Estate we can do just that. Literature Wales will work with communities, youth groups, festivals, arts organisations and businesses across the country to ensure that the centenary is celebrated everywhere and can be enjoyed by everybody.”

A complementary outreach programme delivered by Literature Wales and partners will focus on the social justice agenda to ensure that people of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to take part in the Roald Dahl 100 Wales celebrations. Further details can be found on the Literature Wales website.

The Roald Dahl 100 Wales celebrations will form part of Welsh Government’s Year of Adventure, a tourism boosting initiative, which will see Wales building on a wave of exciting new openings and developments, and over 10 years of ongoing investment to make Wales one of the UK’s leading adventure destinations.

To find out more about the Invent your Event funding scheme, contact Literature Wales on: 029 2047 2266 / roalddahl100wales@literaturewales.org or visit: literaturewales.org

Follow @LitWales and #roalddahl100wales on Twitter for further details and announcements.