THE farthest travelling volunteers for this year's Llangollen International Eisteddfod are not from Cardiff, nor are they from Spain. In fact, they're not even from neighbouring continents.

Bill and Selena Kong, and their son Daniel, have travelled all the way from Hong Kong for the last seven years to help out at the festival, while meeting up with friends in the UK.

They do have closer ties to Wales, as Mr Kong has a love for Welsh choir music and chairs the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir. It was established by a Welshman in the special region in south eastern China in 1979 - marking its 40th anniversary this year. It has 74 members, which includes Hong Kong natives and immigrants from across the world, many of whom are Welsh.

And after years of making the long haul flight to the Denbighshire town, Mr Kong feels like Llangollen is his "second home" because of the memories he and his family have made here. This year will be the biggest gathering yet, because Mr Kong has brought 36 singers from the choir to perform throughout the week, while Selena and Daniel will continue to volunteer as field marshals.

Mr Kong said: "I can't believe this is my seventh year with my family here and we feel Llangollen is our second home. Beside our multinational choristers, we will be joined by our better halves, families and friends from Hong Kong along with our UK exiles. We will have close to 100 people attending this year.

"I must thank everyone at Eisteddfod and the town of Llangollen to have given my family a most wonderful experience and hospitality that we can never forget."