Criccieth is a small, bi-lingual, seaside town on the coast of north-west Wales that thinks big when it comes to community action. With the 2023 National Eisteddfod festival on the horizon, local group Creative Criccieth / Cricieth Creadigol set to work to ensure the area looked bright and welcoming as over 100,000 people passed through the town. 

A bilingual exhibition commemorating the Eisteddfod’s visit to the town was organised in High Street shops. Flags, bunting and colourful displays and messages greeted visitors, empty shops were beautified with displays of local artwork, post boxes were covered in knitted ‘toppers’, plus a pom pom arch, painted ‘friendship bench’ and much more. To ensure sustainability, they chose materials that could be used repeatedly in the future and worked with recycled materials in innovative ways

A large-scale embroidered tapestry based on the 1839 Tithe Map which took over a year to make by 17 volunteers was also displayed at the Eisteddfod itself. 

“This project has resulted in a significant improvement to the town's appearance which can only be of benefit to residents and tourists alike,” says Catrin Jones of Creative Criccieth. “Residents of the town gave freely of their time to support the many and varied initiatives, ranging from schoolchildren to the elderly, from inside the town, and from several miles around the area.”

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