Llangollen Eisteddfod festival 'incident' as multiple kids rushed to hospital

A number of children attending a music festival were rushed to hospital due to an "extraordinary medical incident".

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, which takes place every year in Llangollen, north Wales, was cancelled on Wednesday following a "flu-like outbreak". Eight childrenfell ill and were taken to hospital, the Welsh Ambulance Service confirmed, and all of them were treated for mild respiratory symptoms.

Public Health Wales said none of the children were seriously unwell. Chris Williams, Consultant in Health Protection for Public Health Wales, said: “We are aware that a small group of children who were visiting the Eisteddfod at Llangollen were taken to hospital [on Wednesday] evening. Currently, the children are being medically assessed for mild respiratory symptoms, but they are not seriously unwell.”

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Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod said in a statement: "Further to the previous statement, we can confirm that following the declaration of an extraordinary incident by the Welsh Ambulance Service, following Public Health Wales advice - the incident related to a flu-like outbreak and related to multiple people with similar symptoms. The extraordinary incident was called by the Welsh Ambulance Service due to the number of people who presented ill at one time.

"The Llangollen International Eisteddfod takes the safety of its audience, competitors, performers and volunteers extremely seriously. Therefore, following advice - we were forced to cancel an event in this way for the first time in our history.

"We are pleased to report our site has been cleared to reopen tomorrow at 9am, as we continue to welcome the world to Wales. We'd like to thank our staff, medical staff and our volunteers for their swift response this evening."

An earlier statement from the festival said the event had been cancelled at the last minute due to an "extraordinary medical incident". The festival thanked the medical teams who dealt with the incident. They added: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

The music festival is hosted over six days and sees singers and dancers from around the world compete in over 20 competitions, reports Wales Online. Previous performers have included Luciano Pavarotti, Julian Lloyd Webber and Katherine Jenkins. Events scheduled to take place on Thursday will continue as normal, festival organisers said, with the grounds open from 9am.