Monmouthshire County Council has given the official go-ahead for plans for the 2016 National Eisteddfod to be held at Castle Meadows, Abergavenny. In an extraordinary meeting, which was attended by Gwenllian Carr of the Eisteddfod, members of Monmouthshire County Council discussed the location and funding for the 2016 Eisteddfod. In a detailed presentation to councillors Ms Carr spoke of the advantages to the county and the town of hosting the event which include some 150 hours of TV coverage broadcast across the world, an influx of around 160,000 visitors to Monmouthshire, and a return on investment of between £6 million and £8 million. She described the partnership between the local authority and the National Eisteddfod that would run for the next two years, and the mass amounts of promotion both parties will be doing to highlight what Monmouthshire has to offer. Leader of the Council Peter Fox thanked Ms Carr for speaking to the council, and said, "We are excited for Monmouthshire to host the Eisteddfod and show everyone that we are in Wales, we are Welsh, and that we are taking our place to show what Monmouthshire has to offer." All councillors were in favour of the decision to host the festival in Castle Meadows, with Councillor Douglas Edwards remarking how delighted he was on the decision, and what the Eisteddfod does for Welsh culture across the world. Councillor Liz Hacket Pain also spoke of how influential Monmouthshire hosting this festival would be to the young people in the county, giving them a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' and the chance to get involved within the community. The issue of financing the festival as also discussed, and councillors highlighted that of the £580,000 allocated as the cost to the council, it was anticipated that some £300,000 would funded by community fundraising, with the county be broken up into different fundraising wards with specific targets to try and meet. The vote across the council was unanimous and councillors of all political parties were thrilled to be able to confirm that the 2016 Eisteddfod would be held in Abergavenny.