THERE will be a guaranteed full moon at Tintern Abbey this week thanks to a special art instillation.

The Museum of the Moon is a special collaboration between Cadw and the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership, bringing this international artwork to Tintern Abbey until Sunday.

The art installation by Luke Jerram is a seven metre wide moon which is suspended high in the ruins of Tintern Abbey, illuminated, and accompanied by a surround sound composition from BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones.

Using imagery from NASA, each centimetre of the sculpture represents five km of the moon’s surface.

Lord Elis-Thomas, minister for culture, tourism and sport, launched the event last night.

He said: “I'm delighted that Visit Wales and Cadw have been able to support this event which will be an added attraction to the exceptional atmosphere of Tintern Abbey.

“The Wye Valley is one of Wales' Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it's great to see this artwork attracting more visitors to this magical location."

Tintern resident Neil Wilkie said: “It’s interesting and different. It’s nice to see all the people here and we brought our four-year-old and she’s really excited to be here.”

Kelly Corcoran, who also lives in Tintern added: “It’s great to have people here at a different time, usually there are only people here in the day. It’s nice to bring the little ones out at night and experience something really different.”

The Museum of the Moon is just one of the artistic events taking place during the Wye Valley River Festival.

Ruth Waycott from the Wye Valley AONB Partnership said: “This is the third festival we have had and we wanted it to be about the landscape that we live in.

“The idea behind the river festival is that we want people to be more engaged with the landscape. This year’s theme is woods and trees because 27 per cent of the area is wooded.”

She added: “The moon is here until May 20 and all this week there are a series of events including pilgrimage walks from Monmouth, Brockweir and Chepstow and when they arrive at the village they will get a pilgrims supper. There will be a philosophical evening, a community picnic and a brass band performance.”

Find out more at wyevalleyriverfestival.co.uk, visit the Abbey or call 0333 666 3366.