30th August 2018
Returning from Llanelli’s Twin Town of Agen this week, I feel tired, but envigorated with enthusiasm fot the twinning of our towns and our continued relationship. Next year sees the 30th Anniversary of the Twinning of our towns, initially established on our town’s mutual passion for rugby, but strengthened by a deeper understanding of each other’s cultures such as the fact that we’re both bi-lingual towns. My visit was in conjunction with Llanelli & District Twinning Assocication who were invited to attend the Town’s annual Prune Festival, now in it’s 14th year. If you want anything prune related, you can find it in Agen, Prune Cakes, Prune Wine, Prune Jam and so on.
On arrival, I gave a tri-lingual speech emphasising the importance of twinning and the friendship of our towns. The audience seemed to be genuinely delighted with my French and told me it was really good, but I think they were just being very polite! As the Mayor of Agen’s Twin Town, I was invited to attend many visits on behalf of Llanelli as well being treated to entertainment from a world class pianist. I was also given the honour of officially opening the Boulevard du Pruneau D’Agen, the street containing all the various stalls, including that of Llanelli’s Twinning Association who were busy sharing welshcakes with passers-by and talking to them about Llanelli. A highlight of the visit included a trip to Agen’s sporting village, a temporary showcase for the duration of the festival in which I got to play pool against the French champion as well as try my hand at a few sports such as archery, fishing and skateboarding.
As next year will be the 30th anniversary of the Twinning, I forsee a number of fantastic opportunities to celebrate the twinning of our towns and look forward to seeing what our Twinning Association has in store.
