In 1954, director John Huston chose the small Welsh town of Fishguard to film his adaptation of Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick.
To mark 70 years since the film’s release in 1956, Theatr Gwaun Community Trust ran a programme of activities connecting this iconic piece of cinema history with the town’s maritime heritage and precious marine environment.
Local history groups collected memories and mementos from the film’s production and shared them in an exhibition and on the Hanes Abergwaun website.
The project worked with Sea Trust Wales to host talks and produce display boards about the sea environment, the town’s seafaring heritage, the history of whaling and real-life whale sightings in the area.
Local people also had the chance to get involved in a series of community lantern-making workshops. These culminated with the creation of a Moby Dick lantern which led the town’s annual lantern parade at Fishguard’s Land’s Edge festival.
