A 160-acre site is being used for the Eisteddfod

Not only will Beryl Jones from Meifod, near Welshpool, be welcoming home her children from around the globe, but one of them will headline a concert at the festival.

Beryl's son, Ieuan is a Professor of music at the Royal College of Music in London and will perform with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the Eisteddfod pavilion on Sunday 3 August.

And her other children, Mark, who works in finance in Hong Kong, and Cledwyn, who works in the computer industry in London, will join their sister Nerys - a Welshpool-based lawyer - for the family reunion.

A family reunion is in the offing for Mrs Jones

But the occasion will be tinged with sadness because their father, David Jones, passed away in July 2001.

"We agreed to host the Eisteddfod five years ago and I remember David saying at the time it would be wonderful for whoever was here to see it," said Mrs Jones, who now rents out the land on the 300-acre Mathrafal farm.

Mrs Jones would not reveal how much she was being paid for providing the 160 acres of land to the Eisteddfod from May until October.

"The money will provide compensation because we may have to re-sow and turn the land after they have finished," she said.

Mrs Jones is renting out the land for the festival

"The land is not prone to flooding so with a bit of good weather the Eisteddfod should be a great success," she added.

Mrs Jones' son Ieuan won the Blue Riband for instrumentalists the last time the National Eisteddfod visited Montgomeryshire, at Machynlleth in 1981.

"He was still a schoolboy at the time so it was quite an achievement for him to have won that competition," said Mrs Jones.

"It will be nice to have him and the rest of the family home that week when I don't have to do anything apart from enjoying the Eisteddfod," she added.