The Eisteddfod organisers have been in Welshpool since 2001

More than 80 people are waiting for Welsh lessons after Powys County Council announced it was offering free Welsh lessons for people living in Montgomeryshire.

The tutors are needed to take classes from the start of June until the middle of July.

The National Eisteddfod - Europe's biggest cultural festival -opens at Meifod near Welshpool on 2 August.

I'm sure there are plenty of people across the county who would be willing to give Welsh lessons and become a tutor over a temporary period Hywel Edwards, Eisteddfod organiser

And organisers say they are delighted at the interest shown in the Welsh language from people living in an area which is not a Welsh language heartland.

"At the moment we have classes in Llanfair Caereinion and Welshpool but because of the huge interest shown, we need more tutors to undertake this work," said Delyth James, tutor organiser.

Positive attitude

Hywel Edwards, the Montgomeryshire and Marches National Eisteddfod Organiser welcomed this positive attitude towards the arrival of the event in mid Wales.

"It is very important to give everyone an opportunity to learn Welsh if they want to," he said.

"I'm sure there are plenty of people across the county who would be willing to give Welsh lessons and become a tutor over a temporary period."

Local Eisteddfod fund-raisers have already passed their target of raising �203,000 towards the �2.5m event which will be staged between 2 August and 9 August.

Hywel Edwards: Delighted with local response to the Eisteddfod

Mr Edwards said he was delighted with the level of interest in the eisteddfod from local people, despite the area not being a Welsh language heartland.

"We have had a tremendous welcome and I have been surprised by how much Welsh I have heard on the streets," said Mr Edwards, who has been based at the Eisteddfod's Welshpool office since October 2001.

This is the first time the event has been held in Montgomeryshire since Machynlleth in 1981, but this year, the venue is only a few miles from England.

Consequently, fund-raising for the festival has taken place across the border in Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Stoke and Newcastle-under-Lyne as well as the 44 communities in Montgomeryshire.

"Because of the Eisteddfod's proximity to England, we are expecting people to visit us from the Midlands as well as different areas of Wales this year," said Mr Edwards.

"Thankfully the people of Montgomeryshire have come forward to offer people places to stay."