Community sing-a-long finale to Monty Lit Fest

With just a month to go until the Monty Lit Fest (Montgomeryshire Literary Festival), organisers have confirmed a first that will push the boundaries!

A locally run event, renowned for its top names (and cake), it has always punched above its weight by being bold.

And the finale of this year’s event from June 7-9 will be a mini-festival of singing - a Cymanfa Ganu.

Led by Penybontfawr Male Voice Choir, this is a celebration of Welsh hymns which demands audience participation. While this tradition of community singing goes back 165 years, Monty Lit Fest is bringing something new to pews.

The shared experience of singing hymns is something known and loved, often from childhood. Organisers have asked though: ‘why though, does that endure at a time when traditional worship is waning and - maybe - we don’t understand what we’re singing. We still know the words and feel the power of “Calon Lan” even if we don’t speak Welsh’.

The Cymanfa is built around a new book by M Wynn Thomas, “Poems from the Soul: Twelve of the Great Hymns of Wales”.

He will be discussing this with Sioned Webb, well-known musician, composer and collector of Welsh folk music to see whether they can get to an answer.

In the meantime, participants can lend their collective voices to the question in song in the beautiful setting of ancient St Nicholas’s Church, Montgomery, on Sunday, June 9 at 5pm.

Full details are on www.montylitfest.com  with tickets also available in the Bookshop, Montgomery and the Ivy House Cafe.

Tickets are selling fast so earlier the better.