The Welsh Learner of the Year Competition

This competition started in 1983 and is now an annual event. Its purpose is to celebrate the success of learners and inspire others to take up the challenge. Learners are nominated from all over the world and four finalists are selected to go through to the final during Eisteddfod week.

The Crowning and the Chairing

The best known ceremonies are the crowning and the chairing of the bard. A crown is presented to the author of the best ode in non-traditional metre, a chair to the author of the winning ode in traditional metre. These two ceremonies are regarded by many as the high points of the Eisteddfod.

Y Maes – The Eisteddfod Field

As the arrival of the train made it possible for eisteddfod goers to travel from festival to festival during the late 19 th century, the ‘maes’, the land around the Pavilion began to develop into a meeting place for traders, bodies and movements. Now, the ‘maes’, for many, is the most important part of the Eisteddfod. Thousands spend time simply wandering and meeting old friends. The two most popular questions on the Eisteddfod field are ‘Ble dych chi’n aros?’ (Where are you staying?) and ‘Dych chi yma am yr wythnos?’ (Are you here for the week?)

Competing in the Eisteddfod

Competition is keen in the National Eisteddfod every year with 8,000 taking part. Among the sections you’ll find folk singing, brass bands, visual arts, harp and voice music, music, dance, drama and film, learners, science and technology, youth, speaking and literature.

Y Ddawns Flodau – The Flower Dance

This dance was devised in 1936 by Cynan (Sir Albert Evans-Jones) and its purpose was to make the ceremonies more colourful. The dance is performed by local children every year.

Cynan was one of the leading figures in the Gorsedd of Bards and the Eisteddfod during the twentieth century. The son of a Pwllheli shopkeeper, he won the Eisteddfod Crown three times and the Chair once. He was Archdruid between 1950 and 1953 and between 1963 and 1967.

The Children’s Pageant

Every year, hundreds of children from the Eisteddfod area come together to perform the Children’s Pageant on the Eisteddfod stage. This has often entailed a year’s work for the young people taking part, their teachers and their families as well as the professionals who contribute to the production’s success.

Yma i Helpu – Here to Help

The Yma i Helpu service was set up in 2004 primarily to assist the thousands of non-Welsh speaking visitors who would be present during the National Eisteddfod in Newport. Yma i Helpu officers now have a far wider role and support Welsh speakers, Welsh learners and non-Welsh speakers by giving directions and information, helping disabled visitors and even looking for lost children and finding balloons!

Poets in the Wind

The Gorsedd of Bards has, for three years, been holding ceremonies on the Eisteddfod field so that wider audiences can enjoy them.

The Gorsedd of Bards

The main ceremonies in the Eisteddfod are performed by the Gorsedd of Bards in their white, blue and green gowns. The Archdruid wears gold. The first Gorsedd ceremony was organized in London in 1792 by Iolo Morganwg, an eccentric genius and poet from Glamorgan. Iolo was a first rate forger and there are those who suspect his story that the first ceremonies were based on old manuscripts found at Raglan castle! The ceremonies are, however,a reality now and they are an important part of the Eisteddfod and Welsh life.