Teen tenor fulfils dream of singing on stage with Alfie Boe at Llangollen Eisteddfod

Shea Ferron, 19, had met the singer on the Eisteddfod field earlier in the day and the friend he was with told him he sang a mean Bring Him Home from Les Miserables.

"Alfie replied: 'No pressure then!'" Shea said.

"At the concert I was sitting right at the front in Alfie Boe’s eyeline and he looked at me and remembered me and got me up on stage. We duetted on Bring Him Home – it’s my greatest achievement.

“Afterwards I gave him one of my cards and told him that if he gets fed up with singing with Michael Ball he knows who to call."

The teenage tenor, a student of the Performing Arts at Manchester’s Institute for Contemporary Theatre, is a regular at Llangollen’s Eisteddfod where he has been one of its army of volunteers since he was 14.

He is also a member of the John’s Boys choir which reached the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent this year.

He was at the Eisteddfod with his mum and dad, Sharon and Damian, celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary, and sister Niamh.

Camilla King from the Eisteddfod said: “It was a really great night and Alfie Boe just kept singing, and when Shea was called up it was just one of those magical Eisteddfod moments.

“It was a brilliant experience for him and he harmonised with Alfie which was really nice."

Camilla said it was the perfect way to start the Llangollen Eisteddfod, where around 3,000 competitors from 19 countries on five continents will be taking part.

Each day features a full programme of competitions in the famous pavilion and a line-up of stalls and exhibitions on the field along with the competitors from around the world, many in colourful dress while three open-air stages run a stream of live performances.

Entertainment includes workshops, talks, international showcases, outdoor theatre performances, circus skills, sound bath sessions, yoga, belly dancing, beginner’s Welsh and salsa.

The Globe Stage will feature music acts spanning folk, jazz, world and indie.

At 4.30pm on Thursday the Parade of Nations will be making a joyous comeback when a cavalcade of colourful competitors will march through the town.

The parade starts at 4.30pm, heads though Llangollen and back to the Eisteddfod ground for an enormous, colourful performance full of song and dance.

There will be plenty of music, singing and dancing with competitors and performers from Wales, USA, Finland, Bosnia, Ukraine, Philippines, Sweden, India, Trinidad and Tobago, Northern Ireland, Greece, Canada, and England taking part in their national costumes.

A samba band will be at the back of the parade and people are being encouraged to follow them back to the field where there will be mass song and dance performances, and entrance to the field will be free.

John Gambles, a trustee at the festival said: “We are delighted to see the return of the popular parade. There will be road closures in place until just after 5.30pm. It is amazing to see so many countries represented. It is the first parade around town since the Covid-19 lockdowns and we cannot wait.”

Camilla added: “Sunday is going to be a very special day because we’ve got outdoor performances and entertainment all day. And we’ve changed the evening concert entry so it’s now free to attend with a field ticket, from £10. We wanted to give audiences a thank you treat.

“That final concert includes the final round of Voice of Musical Theatre, performances from our best international dance groups, and lots more.

“We have former BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin coming to talk about her new book and do a signing session from 12.15pm.”

For tickets or for more on Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and its competitions and concerts as well as how to get to it and where to stay go to international-eisteddfod.co.uk or check out facebook.com/llangollen.