More than 500 local residents and members of Gorsedd Cymru formed a procession through the streets of Wrecsam on Saturday 27 April to celebrate the visit of the National Eisteddfod in a year's time
The procession is an opportunity to welcome the area to the Eisteddfod and the Eisteddfod to the area, and is followed by a colourful ceremony held in the Gorsedd Circle. During the ceremony, the first copy of the List of Competitions is presented to the Archdruid, and this year, Llinos Roberts, Chair of the local Executive Committee, had this honour.
She said, “It was a privilege to present the List of Competitions to the Archdruid. This is the culmination of many months work by the local committees. We've been meeting regularly to discuss ideas, poems and songs, and it's great to share everything with the whole of Wales.
"It was also a privilege to walk through the city with so many community groups and civic members to welcome the Eisteddfod to the area. There was a lovely atmosphere on the procession and we want this feeling of celebration and welcome to continue throughout the project and during the festival week itself."
As well as presenting the first copy of the List of Competition, this year’s ceremony also welcomed a new Archdruid, as Myrddin ap Dafydd stepped down from the role. Mererid Hopwood, winner of the Chair, Crown and Literary Medal at the Eisteddfod over the years, was well-received by the large crowd on Wrecsam’s Llwyn Isaf, and will lead the Gorsedd until 2027, including at this year’s National Eisteddfod in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
She had a strong message in her first address from the Maen Llog, calling for peace, as she explained the purpose of the Gorsedd sword, saying, “Ours is a sword that will never be drawn from the veil. A Sword of Peace. A sign of our desire to see an end to war and violence.
"And that aspiration is so important today. Iolo Morganwg said ‘may the wise lead the world'. And from our Gorsedd of peace here in Wrecsam today, we, the ordinary people of Wales, call on the ordinary people of the world to reject the ideas of the leaders who ask for more swords and bombs and missiles, and say 'enough is enough'."
Click here to read the Archdruid’s speech (Welsh version).
With the List of Competitions presented to the Archdruid, copies are now available in shops across Wales with the 2025 Eisteddfod Competition Portal open in January.
Before then, the closing date for the 2024 Eisteddfod stage competitions is fast approaching, and online registration closes at 23:59 on Wednesday 1 May.
The Wrecsam National Eisteddfod is held from 2-9 August next year, with this year's Eisteddfod held at Parc Ynysangharad, Pontypridd from 3-10 August. For more information visit www.eisteddfod.cymru.
