Trac Cymru is Wales’ Folk Development organisation; it works to promote and develop the music and dance traditions of Wales, both within Wales and beyond.

Its focus is on celebrating Wales’ music and dance traditions, developing our performers from beginners to the international stage, stimulating interest, and making sure our traditional arts remain a relevant, core part of our vibrant cultural life and identity.

Trac Cymru was formed out of a need to draw attention to, and provide a development focus for, Wales’ folk music and dance traditions, so that they might be supported and nurtured on a par with other classical and contemporary music and cultural genres. It was founded in 1997 by a group of folk musicians and supporters who shared a belief in the importance and value of our traditional culture, an awareness of its continuing relevance to the present, and a passion for sharing what music traditions have to offer.

Trac Cymru generates opportunities to encourage participation with Wales’ music traditions. It also works to develop skill and talent and to introduce the very best exponents of the tradition on international platforms. In addition, Trac Cymru actively advocates on behalf of the Tradition with public bodies and other organisations.

You’ll find Trac Cymru’s team and projects in schools, community settings, on festival fields and at international showcase events, helping to ensure that the traditional arts of Wales continue to enrich lives regardless of age, background, race or language.

Trac Cymru works with those engaged with folk music and dance, to develop the folk musicians and audiences of the future. We work with musicians, singers, dancers and audiences alike. If you’re interested in our folk arts, whatever your age or stage we have something to share with you.

Trac Cymru is mostly core funded by the Arts Council of Wales, granted annually and based on an agreed business plan. Our projects are funded by the National Lottery, again applied for annually through ACW, or by Creative Wales (Welsh Government) or by private trusts and foundations. In addition, as a registered charity, we fundraise for our projects and activities. This support comes in the form of partnerships that we create with like-minded organisations and from trusts and foundations. We also generate modest revenue streams from residential courses and workshops that we organise.

How we can help you depends on whether you’re a practitioner or a fan of Wales’ folk traditions or someone looking for information about this cultural sector, but we certainly have something to share with you. As a practitioner, we will have a range of resources, activities and training that you’ll find useful, ranging from music and skills to research and music business intelligence. As someone who simply enjoys folk music, we provide information about events, taster sessions, and interesting insights into the lives and work of our leading performers.

Our website is a great starting point. Here you’ll find a directory of folk events and festivals in Wales plus bands, instruments, tutors and more; films and information about our traditions, tradition bearers and leading exponents; upcoming opportunities for professional artists; workshops and residential courses for those wanting to hone their skills and find a community of like minded folk enthusiasts. There are tunes and songs to learn and lots more besides.

Be sure to sign up for our e-news to make sure you don’t miss out.

Wales’ traditional arts are a foundation stone in our nation’s identity. Our music, song, cerdd dant, dance, and storytelling carry and express our distinctive history, languages, culture and way of life. These creative forms are an integral part of our culture, the values and emotions they express bind us together.

At Trac Cymru, we’re passionate about renewing and reinvigorating these forms of expression, both to inspire our younger generations and honour the craft of our tradition bearers. Without support and stimulation, these more traditional forms loose out investment and focus to classical and contemporary forms of music making, and are in danger of becoming museum pieces rather than a living folk tradition which informs our contemporary culture and sense of identity.

Our folk music and dance traditions continue to delight and intrigue both at home and abroad. At Trac Cymru, we advocate on behalf of the sector with Government and core agencies to keep our folk culture firmly on the agenda alongside other forms. We also support amateur and professional musicians as well as audiences regardless of age, language and race and across borders, to access, celebrate and share in the very best representation of our folk music culture and ensure it remains at the core of Wales’ cultural heart and soul.

Trac Cymru engages and works in partnership on projects with many organisations involved in music making from amateur to professional levels, and with the range of specialist interest groups and societies which are part of the fabric of Wales’ folk scene. However, our focus is broader in terms of the folk arts and in terms of skill and career development of musicians and performers, and we have a strategic development role for the folk traditions of Wales as a whole, for which we are funded by the Arts Council of Wales.

While we are advocates of safeguarding the traditional folk forms, we also have a clear view to the future and actively encourage our young and emerging performers to develop the traditional forms to ensure that ours remains a living folk tradition.

We offer support, guidance and know how, but not direct funding. For showcase events, Trac Cymru will select suitable performers and bid for funding to enable travel and presentation costs, but we do not give grants directly to performers. Likewise, our training programmes and residential courses are subsidised to ensure that they remain accessible.

The Arts Council of Wales has a number of grant schemes which may be of interest. Here’s a link to information: www.arts.wales/funding