Qualla: National Eisteddfod of Wales

National Eisteddfod of Wales: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sionedhaf96, CC BY-SA 4.0. The winner of the 1917 chair was named, and the crowd at the Birkenhead Eisteddfod waited for the poet to rise from his seat among them so the chairing ceremony could begin. No one stood. The announcer waited. Then he explained: Ellis Humphrey Evans, who wrote under the bardic name Hedd Wyn - Blessed Peace - had been killed the previous month on the battlefield at Passchendaele in Belgium. His poem Yr Arwr, The Hero, had won the chair he would never sit in. The audience watched in silence as the empty oak chair was draped with a black cloth. Y Gadair Ddu, they called it afterwards. The Black Chair. It still stands in Hedd Wyn's family farmhouse near Trawsfynydd. Almost a century later, the tradition that gave him a posthumous prize is still going - the largest music and poetry festival in Europe, held in Welsh, almost without exception, every August.

Image: Sionedhaf96 | CC BY-SA 4.0

National Eisteddfod of Wales: The Long Roots

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. The National Museum of Wales traces the tradition back to 1176, when the Lord Rhys held a bardic competition at Cardigan Castle - prizes for the best harpist, the best poet, the best storyteller. Local eisteddfodau persisted through the centuries that followed. Bigger gatherings ...

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

National Eisteddfod of Wales: The Language Rule

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit James Alexander Foxhall, CC BY-SA 3.0. From 1950 onward the rule was made absolute: all competitions take place in Welsh. The only exception is sung settings of the Latin Mass, which has at times let major international soloists onto the stage and at times caused friction. The Welsh-only rule was controversial when it...

Image: James Alexander Foxhall | CC BY-SA 3.0

National Eisteddfod of Wales: Druids in White

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit E. Pearce, Public domain. The Gorsedd Cymru, the bardic order, gives the eisteddfod its visual signature. Ovates in green robes signify spring; bards in blue signify summer; druids in white signify the wisdom of age. The robes were designed in the 1820s by Iolo Morganwg, a stonemason and antiquarian whose...

Image: E. Pearce | Public domain

National Eisteddfod of Wales: The Chair and the Crown

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The College of Arms, Public domain. Two prizes matter above the rest. The chair is awarded for an awdl, a poem in cynghanedd - the complex, ancient strict-metre system of consonant patterning that has shaped Welsh poetry since the early medieval period. The crown is awarded for a pryddest, a poem in free verse, int...

Image: The College of Arms | Public domain

National Eisteddfod of Wales: What the Festival Does

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Owen Morgan Edwards, Public domain. Beyond the ceremonies, the maes holds dozens of pavilions across eight days. The Pabell Len for literature. Y Lle Celf for art. The Pabell Wyddoniaeth a Thechnoleg for science. Maes B for late-night music. Hundreds of stalls sell crafts, books, food and the cause of every Welsh s...

Image: Owen Morgan Edwards | Public domain