Today, as Patron of Roald Dahl 100, Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall, will be treated to a flavour of the activities taking place in Wales
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
There will be some unexpected things in unexpected places giving a sense of excitement about what’s in store for the autumn.
Also present will be Roald Dahl’s widow, Felicity Dahl and official biographer, Donald Sturrock. They will also be joined in this celebration by Cardiff communities, societies, organisations and charities which have worked to celebrate the life and works of Roald Dahl during 2016 – and his time in Wales - which was inspiration for many adventures, plots and characters.
Her Royal Highness will visit the Norwegian Church where Professor Damian Walford Davies, chair of Literature Wales will speak about Roald Dahl’s links to Cardiff and to the Norwegian Church. The Duchess will also meet Poet Rufus Mufasa, who has been working with children from Grangetown and Cadoxton Primary Schools, to create rap and spoken word pieces inspired by Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes.
The workshop forms part of Literature Wales’ Invent your Event outreach scheme, funded by the Welsh Government, which aims to engage the whole of Wales in reading and writing.
The Invent your Event scheme has supported over 200 events and workshops across Wales since January, engaging with over 5,000 children, young people and adults to date.
Her Royal Highness’ tour will continue to the Wales Millennium Centre where she will be among the first to see ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine Machine’ which will be one of the installations created for the ‘Roald Dahl’s City of the Unexpected’ event in Cardiff in September, produced by Wales Millennium Centre and National Theatre Wales - where many more surprises await visitors to the capital.
From 1pm on Saturday 17 September, Cardiff’s city centre will explode into the weird and wonderful world of Roald Dahl, with unexpected sights, performances, pop-ups and spectacles appearing on the streets and buildings throughout the city, culminating in a finale that evening.
Some of Roald Dahl’s biggest (and well-known) fans will be reading extracts from his stories in some unusual locations across the city centre on Sunday. And audiences are invited to The Great Pyjama Picnic at the city’s Bute Park – in their pyjamas. This event will bring together all the themes, stories, characters and cast of the weekend in an all-day festival of Dahlian food, music, story and of Cardiff’s community.
During her visit, The Duchess will also meet with Welsh singer and songwriter, Caryl Parry Jones who has been leading workshops for Devising Dahl and Her Royal Highness will hear a rehearsal of pieces from Devising Dahl in with 22 pupils from Windsor Clive Primary School, Ely.
Children from the Only Kids Aloud Chorus led by Tim Rhys-Evans will bring the visit to a close and will provide the finale performance with the songs ‘Revolting Children’ from Matilda and ‘Pure Imagination’ from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Cabinet Secretary for the Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, said:
“This visit is an excellent snapshot of the excitement which has and continues to surround the celebrations of Roald Dahl in Wales. Our programme of celebration has given people throughout Wales a chance to get know Dahl better and to celebrate through song, music, dance and of course - reading and writing.
“This year we celebrate Year of Adventure in Wales which is a perfect fit with such a great ambassador for adventure – and there are plenty more adventures to be had as we look forward to his birthday in September, and later this month we’ll have the pleasure of the opening of the Quentin Blake: Inside Stories exhibition at National Museum Cardiff.”