Wales plans tsunami charity gig

A massive 'Live Aid' style charity concert is being planned to boost relief funds for survivors of the Asian tsunami disaster.

14:44 03 January 2005

A massive 'Live Aid' style charity concert is being planned to boost relief funds for survivors of the Asian tsunami disaster.

Organisers at Cardiff's 70,000 seater Millennium Stadium have confirmed that they are in talks with some of the UK's top performers as they face a race against time to mount the charity gig, which is scheduled to take place on January 22.

"We would like to do something to help the disaster effort because we have got in Wales the biggest indoor venue in Europe," said Paul Sergeant, the stadium's manager.

"The public response to the disaster has been incredible and we would very much like to put our weight behind those efforts and raise another 1m or more," he added.

Mr Sergeant said that a team of stadium organisers probably have just four of five days to get the planned event off the ground.

"Time is very tight on this one," he stressed, indicating that the removable stadium pitch is due to be put back in on January 24, making January 22 the latest available date for the concert to take place.

Mr Sergeant said that if two or three of the A list celebrities he has been in touch with signed up for the concert, "the whole thing could snowball."

"I can't say at this point who they are but if two or three of them come on board we will have something to sell," said the former Wembley Stadium manager, who has past experience of organising charity concerts.

Members of the Welsh Assembly, including First Minister Rhodri Morgan, have already given their backing to the plans.

The British public has so far donated 60 million to the Asian relief effort, following the tsunami, which hit coasts around the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day. Almost 150,000 people are now thought to have been killed across 11 countries.