A CORNWALL Council cabinet member has defended spending £38,000 on sending a council delegation to a French festival, saying it was an “incredible opportunity” to build trade and promote the county.

Cllr Sarah Preece, cabinet member for tourism and culture, was challenged over the cost of attending the 55th Interceltic Festival in Brittany, where Cornwall was named the event’s ‘favoured nation’ for the first time.

Cllr Preece together with council leader Leigh Frost were among the delegation at the festival, which celebrates Celtic nations and regions across Europe.

Cllr Connor Donnithorne, Conservative chairman of the council’s sustainable growth scrutiny committee, questioned the expenditure at a meeting this week.

“The council spent £38,000 funding trips for the 55th Interceltic Festival – that’s a significant amount of taxpayers’ money that came from reserves. What return on investment did we get for that £38,000?” he asked.

Cllr Preece said the cost had been match funded by the Foreign Office and the festival itself.

“It was an incredible opportunity for us to develop our trade partnerships with Brittany and Ireland, in particular. We have £100 million of trade exchanges with France and we’re trying to do similar investment with Ireland.

“You only start those partnerships when you meet and get around a table and start to talk about the impacts we can develop.

“The festival funded 200 artists to attend that festival. That’s an incredible platform – over a million people saw that festival on their TVs and 95,000 people attended the event, so it has a huge impact for our cultural sector.

“Our tourism economy is absolutely dependent on our European neighbours, so to be able to promote Cornwall in the festival’s year of Cornwall and to present ourselves with such great credibility was an incredible opportunity for us.”

Cornish performers included brass bands, shanty singers, choirs, dancers and folk groups, alongside films, a Celtic art exhibition and a Cornish-Breton wrestling tournament.

During the festival, Cllr Frost signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Region of Brittany. The agreement sets out how the two Celtic nations will continue working together on matters of common interest such as culture, renewable energy and tourism.