SINGER-songwriter SERA (Sera Owen), originally from Caernarfon, will be this year’s special guest artist at the 2017 North American Festival of Wales.

This year, the event is being held in Rochester, New York from August 31-September 2.

SERA will be performing a two-hour opening concert on Thursday and hosting the ‘Noson Lawen’ music night on the Friday with her band.

Also performing over the weekend will be award-winning West End and Broadway star John Owen Jones, and the Toronto Male Voice Choir.

Now in its 86th year, and in a different location in North America each year, the festival aims “to preserve, develop and promote our Welsh cultural heritage” and sees traditional Welsh music being presented hand-in-hand with new, exciting creative artists.

Following on from the release of her Little Girl album at the end of 2016, SERA has had a busy year, with highlights so far including a live session on Clare Balding’s BBC Radio 2 Sunday morning show and BBC Horizons, being played on BBC 6 Music, and across the UK, as well as performing at Welsh festivals like Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau and Focus Wales.

She will play Festival No 6 when she returns from the United States.