A Legendary Night at  The National Library of Wales

27.02.2017

The legends hidden within the collections of The National Library of Wales are coming to life! On Saturday 4th March, rogues and heroes, saints and sinners will awake!

In this, Wales’ Year of Legends, Ceredigion and Dyfi Biosphere Destination Partnerships are working to bring the region’s stories to a new and broader audience. As part of this activity, they have developed a new App with Bangor based digital company, Locly (www.locly.com) to bring Ceredigion’s legendary landscape to life, delivering stories, legend based games, activities and information to visitors as they roam the region with their smartphones. This new app, which works with GPS and iBeacon technology to locate the user and push content to their devices, encourages visitors to engage more deeply with the culture of the region and explore the places and spaces associated with the legends contained on the app.

Speaking about the project, Councillor Gareth Lloyd of the Ceredigion Destination Partnership said:

“Ceredigion is home to legends such as Taliesin, known across the world and others like Cantre’r Gwaelod, the Welsh Atlantis, that have connections to world myth. In addition we have wonderful characters such as Twm Sion Cati and a wealth of story rich landscapes to share with our visitors and help add magic and mystery to their stay with us. We’re also very lucky to have The National Library of Wales here in our county, it is without doubt, not only the ‘home’ for Ceredigion’s legends, but for those of the whole of Wales. During this year of legends, together with tourism and cultural partners across the region, we’ll be bringing Ceredigion’s culture to life like never before.”

Visitors to the library on Saturday 4th March can have fun unearthing the legends held within the cabinets, exhibitions and corridors of The National Library of Wales throughout the day, free of charge.

The Legends of the West app will be available for free download from app stores from the 4th of March.

Media Call Notice

To launch the Legends of the West app, the team have been working with The National Library of Wales, to connect myths and local tales to their extraordinarily diverse and valuable collection of documents and artefacts.

On Friday, 3rd of March, when the public have left and the Library doors locked, media and special guests are invited to join us for a mythic quest for a treasure trove of local stories through the library’s silent corridors, and fully test the capability of the Legends of the West app. This invite only event, to celebrate Ceredigion’s activity as part of Wales’ Year of Legends, 2017, begins at 5.30pm on 3rd of March in the Council Chamber, The National Library of Wales, Penglais Road, Aberystwyth, SY23 3BU. Pre-arranged filming / recording will be permitted and a range of interviewees will be available.

Ceridwen’s cauldron will continue to bubble until 8.30pm when you will be released, replete with local cheese and a little mead, much wiser and truly inspired!

The ‘Legends of the West’ app, which includes exclusive content for Friday and Saturday’s launch events, will be available to download from Google Play and the Apple App Store prior to the event. Simply use the search terms ‘Legends of the West’ to find it on the stores, then install it on any iOS or Android device (phone or tablet).

For further information and to confirm attendance, please contact

Angharad Wynne, Angharad Wynne Marketing and Communications
07786256722 / Angharad@angharadwynne.com
For filming permissions at the Library, please contact post@llgc.org.uk or 01970 632 471.