Knights to remember - Terfel would like Sir Elton and Sir Tom to appear

A longer festival could make use of more than one location on the Faenol estate near Bangor, and a dream guest would be Sir Elton John, said Terfel.

"I'd also love an evening compered by Dame Edna Everage, because I'm a huge fan of Barry Humphries," he said.

A three-year broadcast contract with the BBC has also been announced.

Chart topping boy band Westlife and Dame Shirley Bassey are among the performers at this year's August bank holiday event.

Bryn Terfel said seeing the Faenol filled with people was amazing

More of the line-up has also been revealed with the Dragon's Fire/Tan y Ddraig evening featuring Anweledig, Scottish band The Proclaimers as well as Elin Fflur, Dyfrig Evans and Huw Jones.

The orchestra and chorus of the Welsh National Opera have also been confirmed for the opera gala along with international stars Angela Gheorghiu and Rolando Villazon.

Terfel said he was looking forward to hearing Anweledig play and also pleased to "keep the Celtic connection going" with the Proclaimers.

Llanfairpwll-based Elin Fflur, who has just returned from working in New York, said she was looking forward to the event.

"Playing at the Faenol is the highlight of my career so far, but I am working on breaking into the English pop scene too and I hope to have an English language album out some-time next year," she said.

Elin Fflur said singing at the Faenol was a fantastic experience

Welsh ska group Anweledig said they were uncertain of accepting the offer to play at the Faenol at first because the Dragon's Fire evening had tended to be more "nostalgic" and they did not want to be labelled as "has-beens".

But "Hey, we're still looking forward to the event," said lead singer Ceri Cunnington, although they expected it to be more "refined" than their usual gigs.

Terfel said when the festival first started he thought the opera gala might be its weakest evening, but a high-standard had been set and it was a huge success.

"It has surprised me in a way but the Faenol looks stunning with 12,000 people there, and you can hear a pin drop on a blade of grass," he said.

The festival expanded from three nights to four in 2005.

A longer event could feature a "huge artist" at the beginning to launch the event and then a series of chamber concerts during the week, said Terfel.

Top acts which Terfel would still like to see there perform as well as Sir Elton John would be Luciano Pavarotti and Wales' own pop king Sir Tom Jones.

The BBC will record the whole festival. The Opera Gala and Tan y Ddraig will then be shown on S4C while the other performances will be shown on BBC Wales.