Qualla: 2025 Wrexham National Eisteddfod

2025 Wrexham National Eisteddfod: Introduction

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jaggery, CC BY-SA 2.0. From 2 to 9 August 2025, agricultural land off Ridley Wood Road in Isycoed - on the eastern outskirts of Wrexham - became, for one week only, the largest gathering of Welsh-language culture in the world. A fenced festival ground called the Maes appeared overnight. A free shuttle bus ran between Wrexham General railway station and the gates from eight in the morning until midnight. Six thousand competitors entered choirs, brass bands, recitations, science contests, cerdd dant and dance categories. Roughly 150,000 visitors came through during the week. Every word spoken, sung or judged on the official stages was in Welsh. Then the tents came down, the field went back to being a field, and another community somewhere else in Wales began preparing for 2026.

Image: Jaggery | CC BY-SA 2.0

2025 Wrexham National Eisteddfod: An Old Festival in a Field

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jim Linwood from London, CC BY 2.0. The National Eisteddfod of Wales has run every year since 1861, with three gaps: 1914 for the outbreak of the First World War, and 2020 and 2021 for the COVID-19 pandemic. It alternates between north Wales and south Wales each year, hosted by a different region. Since 1950 it has...

Image: Jim Linwood from London | CC BY 2.0

2025 Wrexham National Eisteddfod: Why Wrexham, and Why Now

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Els Pam Pels, CC BY 4.0. It was the seventh time the National Eisteddfod had been held in Wrexham, and the ninth in the wider county borough. The 2011 Wrexham Eisteddfod had lost between £80,000 and £90,000, making the council cautious about hosting again so soon. The momentum to return came as part of W...

Image: Els Pam Pels | CC BY 4.0

2025 Wrexham National Eisteddfod: A Chair Built from Wrexham

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Spicke01 at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Every National Eisteddfod has a Chair, an elaborate piece of furniture awarded to the year's winning poet of an awdl - a long poem in strict-metre Welsh cynghanedd. The 2025 Chair was designed by Gafyn Owen and Sean Nelson, and built entirely around symbols of Wrexham. The arches...

Image: Spicke01 at English Wikipedia | Public domain

2025 Wrexham National Eisteddfod: Dafydd Iwan, Once More

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Els Pam Pels, CC BY 4.0. On Sunday 3 August, the folk singer and former Plaid Cymru politician Dafydd Iwan performed on the main stage for the final time. He had appeared at every National Eisteddfod since 1965 - sixty consecutive years - making him the festival's longest-serving regular performer. His s...

Image: Els Pam Pels | CC BY 4.0

2025 Wrexham National Eisteddfod: Robes, Minecraft and the Future

Mon, 25 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Els Pam Pels, CC BY 4.0. On 27 April 2024, the Gorsedd Cymru - the assembly of bards, druids and ovates - held the proclamation ceremony in Wrexham, processing from Coleg Cambria Yale through the city to Llwyn Isaf in front of the Guildhall. The ceremony publishes each year's list of competitions. New Go...

Image: Els Pam Pels | CC BY 4.0