By Betsan Powys BBC Wales arts and media correspondent

No-one could miss this year's pink pavillion

As the 2006 National Eisteddfod begins in Swansea, BBC Wales news website sets the scene for this year's festival.

When the Eisteddfod's director Elfed Roberts says the Eisteddfod is a process and not an event, you know he's not coining a phrase.

For him and the dozens of local committees in the Swansea Valley who have exceeded their target of raising �300,000 and kept on going, the week long festival is the culmination of many years work and lobbying for financial support.

Elfed Roberts knows there are plenty of critics who question why the Eisteddfod has needed to be propped up financially. Shouldn't it cut its cloth according to the revenue it can attract?

He counters that few other cultural bodies - and that's what the Eisteddfod is not a Welsh language festival - has come under such pressure to more than match the public money it gets.

And he's banking on this year's festival making a profit. If three out of 10 festivals fail to make money, that's a burden the organisation can carry. If a fourth fails to hit the mark, then they're in trouble.

The assembly government has given the Eisteddfod �408,000 plus another �50,000 one-off sum.

Marketing man's dream

Alun Pugh will be at the maes - the site - for three days this year. He can be sure that no opportunity will be missed to argue that the �50,000 should be part of the festival's basic grant.

A total �400,000 has been raised from private sector sponsorship, broadcasting and catering rights bring in another �500,000.

The eisteddfod director is looking to make a profit

A new deal with the Welsh Local Government Association has been reached to ensure support for some years to come, but all eyes will be on ticket sales.

Good weather means good attendance and that means healthy ticket sales. �10 for adults and �2 for children now buys you entry not just to the maes now but also to the pavilion.

And talking about the pavilion - anyone driving past the Felindre turn-off on the M4 will have seen it. It's bright pink. An unusual home for competitors and chairing ceremonies but a marketing man's dream.

Insulting choice

What you won't see are the six miles of cables underground and the four miles of water pipes.

There's a new awareness this year that the Eisteddfod, with its diesel-driven generators, could do more to minimise its effect on the environment.

There was talk of an experiment with harnessing wind power, but for this year you'll see bio-degradable cups and an open discussion on the festival's "carbon footprint".

There'll be no ceremony to welcome Welsh visitors from overseas this year. Some will barely notice the change, others will be up in arms.

Will there be more protests about the choice of a folk song for the groups competition - Tafarn y Rhos - which refers to wife-beating?

Again no doubt some will shrug their shoulders, while others protest that it's an inappropriate and insulting choice.

For Elfed Roberts - who already has his sights on Mold, home of next year's festival - it's all part of the process.