Dydd Gŵyl Dewi / St David's Day 2023

It’s nearly that time again! Are the daffodils coming into bloom where you live? Are there any local events to celebrate Dydd Gŵyl Dewi - the patron saint of Wales?

If you know of any, feel free to post them in here so that others can take part as well. You never know, you may turn up some local Welsh speakers you didn’t know about!

A couple of events have been posted on the forum already - one is a real treat for those of you living in the Rhydychen (Oxford) area:

A performance by the Oxford Male Voice Choir on 4 March - details and tickets here

A celebration on 1 March in Coventry’s oldest pub! Details in St David’s Day Coventry

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There is a website celebrating Dydd Gŵyl Dewi and encouraging people to do random acts of Welshness - Random acts of Welshness | Wales.com

Wherever you are in the world, join us and celebrate our national day. No previous knowledge of Welshness is required! Choose a random act and share it on social media tagging #RandomActsofWelshness and @Walesdotcom

And they have a variety of suggestions for you, as well as information behind some of the Welsh traditions. Take a look!

Pethau bychain 2023_Cymraeg.pdf (2.1 MB)

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There’s a concert at Nant Gwrtheyrn language centre on St David’s eve. :grin:

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COVENTRY - As well as the celebration on March 1st in the Old Windmill (community singing with guest tenor soloist Geraint Roberts, starts 7.30pm) we have also heard that there from Father Edward Le Brun Powell (sounds like a man of many nationalities) that there will be a bilingual service for St David on St David’s Day at 12noon at St Mary Magdalen Church, Chapelfields, Coventry (the church with the blue roof). All welcome.

Here’s an interesting link containing five facts about Dewi Sant: Five facts about St David | Welsh Age of Saints | Visit Wales

Here’s how to pronounce Dydd Gŵyl Dewi: Gair neu Idiom y Diwrnod - Word or Idiom of the Day - #469 by CatrinLliarJones

If you’d like inspiration on how to celebrate then follow this link: Gwna’r Pethau Bychain | Wales.com /

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Cawl a chân in Tŷ Tawe, Swansea

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Today, I’m celebrating not only Dydd Gwyl Dewi, but also, coincidentally, my timely completion of Level 3. Learning a few songs can be a great way to learn a language. I thought the national anthem would be a good place to start. To help me with ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’, I’ve combined it with another of my hobbies (digital 3D modelling) and made myself a harp-playing red dragon. A big thank you to everyone in the SSIW Team for this great language course. I hope you enjoy the little video. Feel free to sing along. https://youtu.be/_h3hqBFB4rs

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That’s gorgeous @jason-art ! Da iawn ti!

Hello Deborah, This year, on 1 March, the BBC website did quite a big splash on a new arrangement by Robat Arwyn of the old national funeral hymn of Wales ‘Bydd Myrdd o Ryfeddodau’ which also has interesting connections with a murder which took place in Patagonia in 1884. The new piece was premiered by the London Welsh Male Voice Choir at their St David’s Day 2023 celebration. I don’t think their description of the original composition as a ‘long lost hymn’ is completely true as it’s in my brother’s copy of ‘Y Caniedydd’ for a start as well as in other Welsh hymn books. I think it’s more a case of its being rarely sung or heard these days. So, to help save it from disappearing completely, I recorded the first verse on this short video and also had a go at a translation (click on link below). Mwynhewch!

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