One down, two to go! ... there are three great festivals about Wales this year in the United States. Woot!I'm just back from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC which went incredibly well. It seems that everyone we chatted to (and more than a million people attended the festival) was interested in Wales and plans to visit on vacation. Woot again! Here's my blog post about the festival. Really excited that there's also the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland and Festival of Wales in Pittsburgh taking place this year. Wales rocks!

I've just returned from a three week trip to Wales and it was awesome. I found out a lot about the upcoming Wales' lead-role at this year's Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, and visited many cool hotels and places I hadn't been before in Wales. Plus I was blogging during my trip and posting photos of Wales - we've been adding regular news items at TravelWales.org .The folks at the Welsh Assembly Government have been busy co-ordinating promotion of Wales Week USA , and these are just some of the events taking place... NEW YORK: Worlds longest train station sign in Manhattan Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllandysiliogogogoch is a tiny place on the island of Anglesey in Wales. It is thought to be the longest place name in the world. A replica of the sign that stands in the village train station will be at the British Memorial Garden in Hanover Square New York throughout Wales Week. A great photo opportunity! Check out the British Memorial Garden Website http://www.britishmemorialgarden.org for more information. CHICAGO: Wrigley Building lights up Welsh Holiday On the evening of March 1 and in honor of St. David, the iconic Wrigley Building in Chicago will light up in the colors of the Welsh flag red, white and green. This has been made possible by David Parry of the Chicago Taffia. The Welsh have a very long history in Chicago, and in 2007 this long history was honored by the Illinois General Assembly when it passed House Resolution HR0149 officially recognizing St. David's Day and the Welsh contribution to the state of Illinois. NEW YORK: Resistance: reading and book signing with author Owen Sheers Welsh author Owen Sheers will be launching the paperback edition of his novel Resistance at Idlewild Books (12 West 19th Street, New York) at 7pm on February 25th. The novel is set in Wales during World War II. Owen will be available for signings at the event; for more information visit www.idlewildbooks.com. NEW YORK: Trinity College performs Clymau, a new musical Tickets can be pre-booked at $20 for performances on March 1st and 2nd at the Producers Club in New York City. Clymau is the story of Siwan, the illegitimate daughter of King John of England, who was given as a teenage bride to the ageing Welsh prince Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great). Her adulterous affair with Gwilym Brewys (William de Braose) had dramatic consequences. For more information, download the flyer here: http://www.trinity-cm.ac.uk/docs/theatrcerdd/TrinUSAFlier.pdfFor more information on: http://www.walesweekusa.com