2004 in Wales - Events

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.