2004 in Wales

2004 in Wales

Other years

2001 | 2002 | 2003 << All >> 2005 | 2006 | 2007

2004 in: The United Kingdom • England • Ireland • Scotland

Other events of 2004

This article is about the particular significance of the year 2004 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

• Prince of Wales - Charles, Prince of Wales
• Princess of Wales - vacant
• First Minister - Rhodri Morgan
• Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales - Dafydd Elis-Thomas
• Secretary of State for Wales - Peter Hain
• Archbishop of Wales - Barry Morgan (Bishop of Llandaff)
• Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales - Robyn Lewis

Events

• 6 January – An inquest is opened into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• 12 January – An inquest is opened into the death of 12-year-old Stuart Cunningham-Jones in a school bus crash near Cowbridge in December 2002.
• 23 February – The former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies announces he is joining the new Forward Wales party led by John Marek.
• 1 March
  • The Prince of Wales visits the Vale of Glamorgan and attends a special service in Cowbridge.
  • Cardiff is granted Fairtrade City status.
• 13 March – The market town of Cowbridge celebrates the 750th anniversary of its charter.
• 15 March – A second bridge over the river Monnow is opened in Monmouth.
• 28 April – The Wales Trades Union Congress annual conference opens at Llandudno.
• 15 May – Singer James Fox represents the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing 16th.
• 18 May – Denbighshire becomes the first local authority in Wales to ban smoking on all council property and for all its workers.
• 28 May
  • Technology Wales 2004 opens at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport.
  • Guardian Hay Festival, annual literary festival, opens at Hay-on-Wye.
• 31 May – The Urdd National Eisteddfod opens at Llangefni.
• 4 June – Professor Merfyn Jones is named as the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Wales, Bangor.
• 6 June – Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Wales is criticized for not attending celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
• 10 June – As a result of the local elections, there is power sharing in nine councils across Wales, Labour control in eight, Independents in three, and Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives control one each.
• 24 June – Police in Swansea arrest twenty people on charges of drug dealing.
• 2 July – Jeffrey John, an openly gay clergyman originally from Tonyrefail, is inducted as Dean of St Albans.
• 6 July
  • The International Musical Eisteddfod opens in Llangollen.
  • The Queen unveils the memorial fountain erected in London in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• 14 July
  • The National Assembly for Wales brings the Wales Tourist Board, Welsh Development Agency and Elwa under its immediate control.
  • The National Woollen Museum re-opens at Dre-fach Felindre.
• 19 July – The Royal Welsh Show opens at Builth Wells.
• 28 July – It is announced that the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, Swansea Institute of Higher Education, Trinity College, Carmarthen and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama will all become part of the University of Wales.
• 30 July – The National Eisteddfod of Wales opens at Tredegar House near Newport.
• 12 August – The Keep Cardiff Tidy campaign wins a special merit award at the Association of Public Service Excellence Awards 2004.
• 26 August – The Festival of History in North Wales opens in Llanfairfechan.
• 28 August – Bryn Terfel's Faenol Festival opens.
• 7 September – Kalan Kawa Karim, an Iraqi Kurd, dies after what police take to be a racist attack in Swansea city centre.
• 7 October – The Western Mail changes from broadsheet to tabloid/compact format.
• 8 October – Breconshire Brewery wins the "Champion Beer of Wales" competition at the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Great Welsh Beer Festival in Cardiff.
• 26 October – The Monmouth-based inventor, Andrew Hubert von Staufer, wins the Platinum Award for Design and Gold Award for Leisure at the British Invention Show.
• 1 November - Neil Kinnock becomes head of the British Council.
• 2 November – Flights to Egypt become available for the first time from Cardiff International Airport.
• 8 November – The Welsh Assembly Government launches its "free swimming for over-60s" pilot scheme.
• 19 November – The Wales Children in Need concert is held at Wrexham, starring Bryan Adams.
• 26 November – Official opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff
• 31 December – In the New Year Honours List, author Leslie Thomas is made an OBE for services to literature.

Arts and literature

• 23 March – The National Library of Wales successfully bids for an 18th century Welsh manuscript auctioned in Los Angeles.
• 5 April – Launch of Katherine Jenkins' first album, Première.
• May – Foundation of Swansea City Opera company.
• 17 August – Announcement of the Dylan Thomas Prize, a new £60,000 literary prize. The first award will be made in 2006.
• November
  • Roger Rees is appointed artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
  • Welsh National Opera moves into the Wales Millennium Centre.
• 7 December – The Stereophonics introduce their new drummer, Argentinian Javier Weyler.
• Magenta wins the Classic Rock Society award for Best Live Band. Christina Booth wins Best Female Vocalist.

Awards

• Glyndŵr Award - Peter Prendergast
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Huw Meirion Edwards
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Jason Walford Davies
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Annes Glyn
• National Eisteddfod of Wales: Music Medal - Owain Llwyd
• Wales Book of the Year:
  • English language: Niall Griffiths, Stump
  • Welsh language: Jerry Hunter, Llwch Cenhedloedd
• Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Robin Llywelyn, Un Diwrnod yn yr Eisteddfod
• John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry: Clare Potter

New books

• Peter Finch – Real Cardiff
• Niall Griffiths – Stump
• Bethan Gwanas – Hi yw fy Ffrind
• Mererid Hopwood – Singing in Chains: Listening to Welsh Verse
• Rhys Hughes – A New Universal History of Infamy
• Jon Ronson – The Men Who Stare at Goats
• Eirug Wyn – Dyn yn y Cefn Heb Fwstash

Music

• Karl Jenkins – In These Stones Horizons Sing
• Dill Jones – Davenport Blues (posthumous album release)
• Katell Keineg – July
• Alun Tan Lan – Aderyn Papur
• Lostprophets – Start Something
• Manic Street Preachers – Lifeblood
• Tom Jones and Jools Holland (album)
• Tystion – Miwsig I'ch Traed A Miwsig I'ch Meddwl

Film

• Ioan Gruffudd stars as Lancelot in King Arthur.
• I'll Sleep When I'm Dead is filmed partly in Fishguard.

Welsh-language films

• Dal: Yma/Nawr, with John Cale, Ioan Gruffudd, Guto Harri, Cerys Matthews, Siân Phillips

Broadcasting

• 3 May – A new community radio station, WHAM! RADIO 1449, is launched in Blaenavon.
• 16 July – The filming of a new Doctor Who series begins in Cardiff.
• 28 July – S4C and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society sign a deal guaranteeing nation-wide TV coverage of the Royal Welsh Show for the next five years.
• 17 October – Pobol y Cwm, the Welsh language soap opera, celebrates its thirtieth anniversary by receiving a "Hall of Fame" award from the Royal Television Society.
• November – Bread of Heaven, a series of six programmes about the history of religion in Wales, presented by Huw Edwards, begins its run on BBC 1 Wales.
• November–December - Mine All Mine, written by Russell T Davies and starring Griff Rhys Jones.
• Rob Brydon stars in The Keith Barret Show.
• Alex Jones presents the first series of Hip neu Sgip?

Sport

• 4 June – Simon Khan breaks the course record at the Celtic Manor Wales Open golf tournament.
• 24 June – Joe Calzaghe pulls out of scheduled world title fight against Glen Johnson because of injury.
• 30 August – The 19th World Bog Snorkelling Championships are held at Llanwrtyd Wells.
• 15 September – Mark Hughes resigns as manager of the Welsh national football team after being appointed manager of Blackburn Rovers.
• 16 September – The Wales Rally GB begins in Cardiff.
• 17 September – The 2004 Paralympics open in Athens: Welsh athletes will return home with twelve gold, six silver and nine bronze medals.
• 9 October – The Welsh national football team loses 2-0 to England at Old Trafford in Manchester.
• 12 November – John Toshack becomes the new manager of the Welsh national football team.
• 20 November – The Wales Rugby Union side loses 25-26 to New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
• 6 December – Tanni Grey-Thompson becomes the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2004 (50th anniversary of the award).

Deaths

• 3 January - T. G. Jones, footballer, 86
• 5 January - Vivian Jenkins, rugby player, 92
• 22 January – Islwyn Ffowc Elis, author, 79
• 5 February - Nicholas Evans, artist, 97
• 21 February – John Charles, footballer, 72
• 4 April - Alwyn Williams, geologist, 82
• 17 April – Geraint Howells, politician, 79
• 25 April – Eirug Wyn, author, 53 (myeloma)
• 2 June – Alun Richards, novelist, 74
• 15 June – J. Gwyn Griffiths, poet, Egyptologist and nationalist political activist, 92
• 17 July – Sir Julian Hodge, banker, 99
• 18 July – Emrys Evans, banker
• 20 August – Arthur Lever, footballer
• 1 September - Gordon Parry, Baron Parry, 78
• 10 September – Glyn Owen, actor, 76
• 15 September – Sue Noake, athletics official
• 25 September - Michael Treharne Davies, Catholic writer, 68
• 13 October – Bernice Rubens, novelist, 76
• 21 October – Brinley Rees, academic, 84
• 9 November - Emlyn Hughes, English footballer of Welsh parentage, 57 (brain cancer)
• 14 November - David Stanley Evans, astronomer, 88
• 29 November – Jonah Jones, writer and artist
• 4 December – Sir Anthony Meyer, politician, 84
• 14 December – Harry Bowcott, international rugby player and president of the Welsh Rugby Union, 97
• date unknown - Eifion Jones, marine botanist