Flur Dafydd will be appearing nearby in late August. So will Gymanfa Ganu and Aelwyd CF1. If these terms sound foreign, it’s because they are. The folk group Festival of Hymn Singing and Choir from Cardiff is part of an upcoming North American Festival of Wales.

Downers Grove resident Sue Stealey, who is seven-eighths Welsh (one relative is German) is involved in this event. She is among the volunteers organizing and running it. Specifically, her main role has to do with supplying food on a couple of occasions during the event.

“My father’s parents came to Pennsylvania to work in the mines there about a hundred years ago,” Stealey said.

There are many Welsh ties to this country from even earlier on, of course. In fact, 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence have some Welsh ancestry, Stealey added. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was Welsh as well.

Other relatives of Stealey’s grandparents soon followed them to the United States and settled originally out East. She, herself, was born in Wisconsin after her branch of the family decided to try dairy farming there. She grew up in Milwaukee, but as an adult, moved to Downers Grove and worked for the state of Illinois on behalf of the visually impaired.

Stealey has visited Wales — where she still has a significant number of relatives — five times so far. Her fourth trip was in 1980, and 28 years passed before she made her most recent trip, a visit that lasted for two weeks spanning May and June.

“I spent half the time with relatives and half on my own, exploring,” she said.

Wales is known for many things, not least of which is the reputation of its singers and choirs. The Welsh alphabet has two additional vowels, and the country boasts a railway station known for the length of its name. Schools in Wales still teach Welsh along with English. The Welsh also have an affinity for poetry.

Wales certainly is known for the rugged beauty of its valleys and mountains and for the large number of castles concentrated in that size of an area. These structures were built by mainly the English in the 1200s after Edward I of England invaded and occupied the land, Stealey said.

As a member of the Women’s Welsh Club of America, Stealey helps promote the club’s goal of remembering and appreciating all of this Welsh history and culture. The club was formed originally to support a Welsh nursing home founded in Ohio. The group of club members in the Chicago area now is the largest in the country, Stealey said. This club also offers scholarships to people of Welsh descent. As a trustee on the club’s board, Stealey goes to meetings in Cleveland every two to three months.

Organizers expect at least 600 visitors to attend the 77th North American Festival of Wales, Stealey said. In addition to those of Welsh descent coming from all over the United States, quite a few will travel from Canada, she said.

The event is open to the general public, and not just those with a Welsh background, Stealey stressed.

The fest is being held from Thursday, Aug. 28, to Sunday, Aug. 31, at the Doubletree Hotel in Oak Brook. For information, call (773) 275-9789, e-mail wngga@comcast.net or visit www.nafow.org.