ORGANISERS of next month’s Merthyr Rising festival were delighted to announce today that celebrated Welsh actor and political activist Michael Sheen will officially open the bank holiday event on Friday May 25.

The Merthyr Rising team declared themselves “thrilled to be able to make this announcement which will take place on the festival’s main stage at Penderyn Square” in Merthyr Tydfil.

“He will be stepping away from his busy schedule to publicly speak and open the festival’s activities with the raising of the Red Flag in memory of the 1831 Merthyr Rising.”

Bafta award-winning actor Mr Sheen recently decided to scale back his acting workload to focus on a number of political issues in the South Wales area, especially those affecting his home town of Port Talbot.

Merthyr Rising 2018 is set to be the biggest festival yet and features a weekend of live music, culture and political talks as a celebration of working-class resistance from 1831 to the present day.