THOUSANDS of children from across Wales will be in Pembrokeshire today as one of the biggest youth festivals in Europe opens its gates.

The Pembrokeshire Urdd National Eisteddfod at Cilwendeg near Boncath is expected to attract around 100,000 visitors.

More than 15,000 children and young people will be competing during the Eisteddfod week in various competitions such as singing, dancing and performing.

They have won the chance to perform after local and regional rounds involving 40,000 competitors across Wales.

Last night in the main pavilion, the opening concert was hosted by Connie Fisher and Ifan Jones Evans and among those performing were Trystan Llyr Griffiths, Lowri Evans, Elin Fflur and Rhys Meirion.

The concert was also an opportunity to enjoy a few songs from the primary schools’ show, Pentigili, which will be performed on Tuesday and Wednesday night in the pavilion. The young people of Pembrokeshire will also be performing in their production, ‘Gelli Gyfrin’ in the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven for the final time tonight.

As well as competitions in the pavilion, there will be around 200 colourful stalls and exhibitors on the Eisteddfod ‘Maes’ offering activities for the whole family from quad biking and climbing to live bands and sports sessions as well entertainment shows for young children.

A new development for 2013 is a free ‘app’ which can used to find your way around the Maes and contains all the information required for visitors attending the Eisteddfod.

The app, which is a joint project between the Urdd and S4C, contains and interactive map, competition details, video clips, weather forecast or the Maes and the option of creating your own personal timetable of favourite competitions The app is available for iphone or android and can be downloaded from urdd.org/eisteddfod.

Aled Sion, Urdd National Eisteddfod director, said: “After years of preparation we are now ready to welcome everyone to this splendid site in Cilwendeg near Boncath. The support and enthusiasm of the local people towards the Eisteddfod has been fantastic and I would like to thank all the volunteers involved for their hard work. All that’s left now is to warmly welcome the competitors, supporters and visitors coming to the Eisteddfod this year."

Emyr Phillips, chairman of the local Executive Committee, added: “After nearly two years of local activities and fundraising it’s a very exciting feeling to finally see the Maes ready for all the visitors. The local support has been tremendous and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the whole team of volunteers and the people of Pembrokeshire who have worked tirelessly supporting the Eisteddfod. I look forward to welcoming everyone to Pembrokeshire and enjoying the Eisteddfod week!”

Tickets can be purchased daily on the maes.