FFESTINIOG TOWN COUNCIL

The Ffestiniog Town Council area includes the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog and the village of Llan Ffestiniog. Ffestiniog is a Welsh area with the Welsh language and culture at the core of its identity. Protecting the language is extremely important to many of the population and Welsh is used naturally as a first language. The population of the area is 4,875 according to the 2011 census, which makes Ffestiniog Town Council the third largest council within the unitary authority of Gwynedd, behind Bangor and Caernarfon. There are 16 councillors representing 5 wards namely Tanygrisiau, Bowydd and Rhiw, Diffwys and Maenofferen, Conglywal, and Cynfal and Teigl. The area is twinned with the town of Rawson in Patagonia.

In the early 19th century, Ffestiniog was a ‘poor little village’ with a few isolated farms. Sheep farming was as important as slate to the early pioneers. Slate eventually became the basis of wealth in Snowdonia, and Blaenau Ffestiniog became the centre for the industry. The industry prospered and Blaenau Ffestiniog became known as “the town that roofed the world”. Today, the town relies heavily on tourism, who come to see the many attractions in and around the town. In recent years the ‘slate capital of the world’ has become one of the most innovative activity centres in the north of Wales. Now, the slate tips are home to mountain bikers and thrill seekers, and the underground caverns are now home to the world’s first underground trampoline and zip wires.