Campaigners collecting cash to transform a historic site in Mold are planning to raise the profile of the Welsh language in the town at the same time by holding a string of star-studded concerts.

Welsh folk legend and language campaigner Dafydd Iwan is to take centre stage during a Welsh Week to drum up funds for town mayor Bob Gaffey’s Bailey Hill appeal next year.

And 70s rocker Meic Stevens is also pencilled in among the festivities, which the town councillor says will provide a shot in the arm for the language amid growing concern that the number of Welsh speakers is dropping year by year.

The mayor himself has penned a book of poems as part of the fundraising and he says he is not afraid to wear his nationalist pride on his sleeves as part of the effort, which has seen £40,000 raised so far towards a £100,000 target.

That would trigger £1m of National Lottery funding to turn the site of the former motte and bailey castle on which Mold was founded into a modern tourist attraction.

While a Christmas concert, which was to feature reformed folk group Pererin, has been cancelled due to low ticket sales, next year’s prestigious events are aimed at promoting the Welsh language under the theme of ‘Inspirations and Legends/Ysbrydoliaeth a Chwedlau’.

A 2011 census showed the number of first language Welsh speakers fell from 582,000 in 2001 to 562,000 despite a growth in Wales’ population.

Gwynedd could boast the highest percentage with 64 per cent of its population able to speak Welsh, but areas closer to the English border like Flintshire and Wrexham were as low as 13 per cent, although not as low as parts of the South Wales valleys such as Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent at eight per cent.

“We have lost 20,000 Welsh speakers and while there is a lot being done to address the problem, it is easier to do in the west of Wales,” admits Mold’s mayor.

“That is where the work is being aimed at. Here we are nearer the border and English is such a powerful international language.

“But we do have Welsh being spoken in Mold and there are things we can do. We have got two schools which teach through the medium of Welsh and most places near the border don’t have that.

“In the Mold South ward the percentage of Welsh speakers is 31 per cent, which is much higher than across Flintshire. That is because people want to live there so their children can be raised with the language at the Welsh medium schools.

“We need to put more resources into it. In South Wales they realised they were losing their culture and now they are devoting more attention to Welsh medium schools.

“In Cardiff there are areas that are strongly Welsh. Cardiff Bay has been transformed and Cardiff University has become very attractive to Welsh students,” adds Bob, who recalls a fight he helped mount to ensure his own council was meeting the requirements of the Welsh Language Act.

“We didn’t realise we were breaking the law with an English-only website and that caused a bit of a stir.

“There was a gap between the Welsh-speaking community and the council. We had a meeting and got a great response which brought the communities together,” he recalls.

“We may have road signs welcoming people to Mold/Y Wyddgrug, but I have friends who come here to see plays at Theatr Clwyd who don’t know that Y Wyddgrug is Mold in Welsh.”

It was his partner, Yvon Jones – who recently joined him as a fellow Plaid Cymru councillor in Mold’s town chamber – who sent out a request to Pererin to perform in the concert at St Mary’s Church.

The folkies once performed across Europe and were particularly popular in other Celtic regions such as Brittany.

They came together again for the first time in 36 years to play at August’s National Eisteddfod at Bodedern in Anglesey.

Unfortunately, the plug was pulled on their set, which would have taken place on Monday night after only 70 tickets were sold.

But the draw of singer and politician Dafydd Iwan as well as the enduring appeal of psycheldelic rocker Stevens, now in his mid-70s, is sure to generate a swell of interest, predicts the town mayor, who stresses the success of the fundraising appeal depends on people immersing themselves in Welsh culture.

“We have raised £40,000 so far, but unless we get another £60,000 by May next year then we are not going to get the £1m from the Lottery Heritage Fund to see Bailey Hill transformed,” he warns.

“It was disappointing for the Christmas concert to be cancelled. Pererin played again at the National Eisteddfod this year and it would have been a great show here.

“We really needed around 200 ticket sales and it is too close to Christmas to be rescheduling it, but we will try again in the new year.

“Unless we get attendances at these events we are going to fall short of the £100,000 target we need.

“But we have organised events for a “Welcome to Wales” week in May. We will have Dafydd Iwan and we have spoken to Osian Roberts, the assistant manager of Wales, as he is a first language speaker, while we hope to get the comedian Tudur Owen to perform as well.

“Dafydd is a legend and Meic Stevens was there in the 60s with him. They are big nationalist figures and people who support the Welsh language and don’t want to see it die. We are trying to stimulate support for the Welsh language and culture.

“Dafydd Iwan and Meic Stevens are superstars in Wales and we hope they will be a big draw next year.”

Jane Evans, Mold Town Council support officer, said: “Due to unfortunate circumstances the mayor of Mold’s Christmas concert has been postponed and anyone who has purchased tickets can get a refund from the town council offices.”

*Bilingual events lined up for the mayor of Mold’s Bailey Hill Restoration Project campaign are:

l Mayor’s Dinner Ball and Auction, Clwyd Room,Theatr Clwyd, February 2.

l Meic Stevens, Clwyd Room,Theatr Clwyd, March 16.

l Mayor’s Grand Concert with Dafydd Iwan, Hefin Elis, Gwenan Gibbard, Tudur Owen, Sir Anthony Hopkins’ Theatre, Theatr Clwyd, April 29.

l Welcome to Wales/Wythnos o Groeso April 29 to May 6 through Mold town centre. Contact Mold Town Hall for more details on 01352-758532