A WELSH gift shop in Mold is one of the few places in North Wales to have been given rare and collectable packs of specially commissioned Top Trumps cards.

Siop y Siswrn, on New Street, has a very limited supply of the cards, of which only 450 packs were produced nationwide, that were created to promote the the fourth annual Dydd Miwsig Cymru, which celebrates all forms of Welsh language music.

Welsh Language Music Day took place across all of Wales on Friday and the cards, which were designed by artist Casey Raymond as part of a collaboration with comedian Elis James, feature artists including a variety of solo acts and bands, both old and new, depicted in a cartoon style, with different scores given for number of albums made and the length of career.

The Leader:

Anne Evans, who runs the town centre shop said the annual event was going from strength to strength and said the cards were an important way of bringing Welsh music to a new generation.

She said: “They give it a great platform to use. You’ve got all the young bands, but it links into the more traditional stuff, such as the choirs and the individuals. I think it’s phenomenal how many things are related to the Welsh language.

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“It’s a really fun way for children to get into it and I know a lot of schools who’ve done a lot and made their own lists. It’s growing all the time and obviously, these cards are just another way to promote it.”

From indie, rock, punk, funk, folk, electronica, to hip hop or anything else, it shows there is a wide range of music being made in the Welsh language for people to discover and artists featuring on the cards include the likes of Super Furry Animals, Cate Le Bon, folk singer and politician Dafydd Iwan and the Flintshire born singer/songwriter Caryl Parry Jones.

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