More than 8,000 festival-goers attended the weekend

Saturday saw the big blue marquee which had taken over Bethesda's rugby ground shake to its core to the thundering sounds of the Super Furry Animals who headlined the concert.

Earlier, a host of local bands had built up the evening for a performance by a beaming, and heavily pregnant, Cerys Matthews, who wowed the audience with songs from her new country-style album, Cockahoop.

Organisers have praised the 6,000 festival-goers for their good behaviour despite some discontent about the bar arrangements on the field.

It was just a big party that brought the whole village together and gave a boost to the people of Bethesda. Cefyn Burgess, festival organiser

One overcrowded beer-tent led to frustration among revellers who had to queue for more than an hour to get a drink.

"There was no trouble at all, although some local people had been worried about the numbers that would be descending on Bethesda," said one of the organisers, Cefyn Burgess.

The celebrations continued on Sunday with thousands returning for a Workers' Education Association (WEA) centenary concert with the Penrhyn male voice choir, Bryn F�n, Dafydd Iwan, Celt and a local gospel choir.

"It was an amazing weekend, a phenomenal success" said Mr Burgess, who is the president of Gwyl y Dathlu (Festival of Celebration).

An energetic Cerys Matthews sang tracks from her new album

"It was just a big party that brought the whole village together and gave a boost to the people of Bethesda.

"It has given them pride in the strength of their language and culture and a much-needed kick start to the community."

He added that it had shown Bethesda that it had great talents, despite being a small community, with home-grown artists accounting for 80 per cent of those taking part.

The Super Furry Animals' lead singer Gruff Rhys, who is from Bethesda, performed at the last Pesda Roc gig in 1985 as a young drummer in a band fronted by Martin Beattie, who is now the lead singer of Celt.

The Pesda Roc festival and the WEA concert were part of a year-long festival of celebrations (Gwyl y Dathlu) to mark the centenary of the end of the Great Penrhyn Quarry strike.

Friction Dynamics picketers joined artists on stage

Nearly 3,000 slate workers were out on strike for three years between 1900 and 1903 in a bitter dispute with quarry owner, Lord Penrhyn, over pay, working conditions and union membership.

A hundred years later, their struggle still has resonance with the sacked workers of the Friction Dynamics plant in Caernarfon.

Workers at the plant are still waiting for an end to their dispute over their claim for unfair dismissal.

A delegation of picketers appeared on stage on Saturday as rap artist Steffan Cravos performed a song about the strikers of today and yesterday in their honour.

There is now mounting pressure on the organisers to resurrect the 1980's Pesda Roc festivals and make it an annual event.

"There is certainly a demand, " said Dafydd Rhys, chair of Gwyl y Dathlu.

"Everyone is asking us when the next one will be. But I think the consensus is that it should be every 100 years!