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First Minister Mark Drakeford will represent Wales at the inaugural Celtic Forum this week.

The Celtic Forum, which will bring together leaders from the Celtic nations, is being held in Rennes, Brittany, on Thursday August 3.

The aim of the forum is to strengthen relations between the Celtic nations.

It is followed by the Interceltique Festival, which gets underway in the Breton city of Lorient on Friday August 4.

The festival is the largest annual celebration of Celtic culture, with music, dance, visual arts, sports and gastronomy being celebrated at the event.

Last year, it attracted around 900,000 visitors over ten days.

Mr Drakeford said: “The Celtic Forum is an excellent opportunity to come together as Celtic nations and regions, to build on our cultural and historical links and seek out areas for future collaboration, such as marine energy.

“Ahead of the Rugby World Cup later this year [which is being held in France], it’s also an opportunity to celebrate the Wales-France relationship, revitalising existing partnerships and planting the seeds for future collaborations in culture, sport, the economy and innovation.”

The Celtic Forum was originally meant to be held back in 2020 but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was rearranged for March 2023 but was postponed again due to protests in France over pension reforms.

Represented at the forum will be Wales, Brittany, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Galicia, and Asturias.

Wales and Brittany

Brittany is a region in the west of France which, like Wales, has a strong Celtic identity. Brittany also has its own language, Breton, which shares some similarities to Welsh.

Brittany’s national anthem, Bro Gozh ma Zadoù, shares the same tune as Wales’ anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

Caerphilly has been twinned with the Breton town of Lannion since 1991, while Llanbradach has been twinned with Ploubezre, which is about two miles from Lannion, since 1994.

The arrangement was created by the Caerphilly and District Twinning Association, whose members visit Brittany bi-annually, while their Breton counterparts come to Wales on alternate years.

In 2010, the road between the Llanbradach bypass and the Wingfield traffic lights was renamed ‘Rue de Ploubezre’ (French for ‘Ploubezre Street’) to commemorate the twinning arrangement.

This year, Llanbradach AFC celebrated 25 years of being twinned with Lannion-based AS Servel, with the teams playing an annual football match against each other.