Festival goer says family was 'penned in' amid long queues
BBCOrganisers of one of Wales' largest cultural festivals has said it may consider other sites in future after claims attendees were "penned" into long queues.
An estimated 20,000 people attended Tafwyl at Cardiff Castle over the weekend and Menter Caerdydd, which organises the event, acknowledged that some people were unable to get in on Saturday and there was a long delay at the entrance.
Rhodri Evans said he was queuing for 45 minutes with his wife and children, aged three and five.
Organisers said they would hold talks with Cardiff council about other potential future locations for the free Welsh language festival.
Evans said his family was "penned" in the queue waiting to get in.
He added that he thought Tafwyl was an "absolutely fantastic event" but this year "felt different" and not as "family friendly".
"By late afternoon that it became uncomfortably busy for us with kids," he said.
Changes were introduced at the entrance on Sunday to speed up the process of doing security checks for the second day of the festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
Chief executive of Menter Caerdydd, Heulyn Rees, said that attracting "thousands" of people was "a matter to celebrate, but obviously that causes some trouble for some".
He said the opening time had to be "pushed back" as "several problems arose" after gaining access to the site on Friday night and erecting the infrastructure overnight.
As a result, he said, "very many people turned up in a very short window and that caused some people to not be able to get in at the time they would have liked".
Rees said organisers were "very keen to keep the festival free", rather than charging fees and tickets to control the number of visitors.
"We know that there are people who are only on the fringes of the Welsh language who come to Tafwyl and that may be their only experience of the Welsh language, and we don't want to risk that... it's something very, very sensitive to protect.
"At the same time we have to protect numbers and be able to properly staff for the event.
"This year's numbers... although it's great to see the enthusiasm to come, it really has caused us some difficulties."