CHILDREN have got stuck into a workshop making banners for an upcoming town festival.

Theatr Clwyd is set to stage its first major production of the Mold Riots featuring a community cast of 100 who will take over the streets of Mold and retell the story of the 1869 Mold Riots, during the week-long Daniel Owen Festival.

This year marks the 150th anniversary which saw tension between English and Welsh miners erupt in a series of disturbances which left four people dead.

Theatr Clwyd is running banner making workshops this week at Ysgol Derwenfa, Ysgol Terrig, Coleg Cambria, Ysgol Nercwys, and Ysgol Parc y Llan relating to the story of the Welsh Miners from the Leeswood Green Colliery who were involved in the Mold Riots.

Andrea Mearns, from the Daniel Owen Festival group, said: “Gwenno Jones, creative engagement associate at Theatr Clwyd, begins the workshops with an inspiring and animated outline of the Mold Riots story. The young people then interpret this creating their own designs and producing small individual flag banners.

“They have a wonderful time creating the banners out of canvas and using block printing techniques with black printing ink. Each school and college also creates a slogan based on the story, in both Welsh and English, which Gwenno will use on one large protest banner based on the individual designs.

“The banners created by the schools will be used in a community walk, ‘In the Steps of the Rioters’, on Sunday, October 20 as part of the Daniel Owen Festival. There are a couple of options for the community walk, a four-mile version across fields and styles starts at 1.30pm from Leeswood Community Centre and it joins up with the shorter option in the outskirts of Mold, at 3.30pm from Snowdonia Windows on Bromfield Lane. Everyone will then walk together in a procession on pavements to Tyddyn Street United Church in Mold.”

Andrea adds that there will be refreshments and a chance to look at excellent displays about the Mold Riots at Tyddyn Street United Church. Return transport from Mold to Leeswood at 5.30pm has been arranged by Leeswood Community Council.

Many of the events as part of the Daniel Owen Festival, from October 19 to 26, are free of charge. Tickets for festival events can be obtained from Mold Town Council by calling 01352 758532.