Hopefully the sun will shine on the Maes this morning so that the Gorsedd can gather around the stones to honour new members
It’s a colourful and heartfelt ceremony and attracts a large audience of friends and families of those being honoured. If it’s raining, the ceremony will be held in the Pavilion.
Following the ceremony, which starts at 10:00, there’s be a procession from the circle through the Maes.
The Gorsedd reconvenes at 16:00 – remember, the main ceremonies are earlier this year. The task was to compose an ode or a collection of poems in complete cynghanedd on more than one of the traditional meters and up to 250 lines on the subject 'Cadwyn'.
The prize is the beautiful Chair created by Berian Daniel. It was donated by the pupils and community of Ysgol Llanhari on the occasion of celebrating the school's contribution to 50 years of Welsh language education in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Last year Alan Llwyd, one of our most celebrated poets, famous for winning the ‘double’, namely the Chair and the Crown in the same year - twice - was the winner of the Chair. Who’ll be taking the Chair home this year – if anyone?
There’s a full day of competing in the Pavilion with the mezzo-soprano, bass/baritone, soprano and tenor soloists over the age of 25 vying for the first prize in their individual competitions and the right to compete for the David Ellis Memorial Award, the Blue Ribbon competition on Saturday afternoon.
The judging panel will select three contestants across the 25 and over vocal categories to sing again in the final.
There’s comedy in Caffi Maes B at 14:00. Today Cadi Dafydd, Gwion Clarke and Beth Jones will raise a smile with Siôn Owen keeping order, and there’ll be another comedy session on Saturday afternoon with Fflur Pierce, Aled Richards and Josh Pennar.
Traditional Glamorgan poetry sung to local tunes will be the subject of a special session in Tŷ Gwerin at 16:30. This unique session by Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin Cymru celebrates an important and entertaining element of our rich heritage in this area, namely the triban.
It’s assumed that the triban was one of the measures of ‘Y Glêr’ - grassroots folk poets - in the Middle Ages.
The triban is a verse of four lines, with seven syllables in the first, second and fourth lines, and eight in the third. There are also rules about which lines end accented and unaccented and where the rhyme is.
Awen Cultural Trust presents 'Gwlad! Gwlad!', a new production in the town where the national anthem was composed by father and son, Evan and James James in 1856.
It explores the legacy of our national anthem by telling a series of powerful and thought-provoking stories. .
The production was written by award-winning writer Chris Harris, and directed by Harvey Evans. It includes Lansiad, the trust's training initiative for adults aged 18 to 25 who aspire to a professional career in the performing arts.
The music was composed by Stacey Blythe, and the producer is Pedro Lloyd Gardiner. Catch 'Gwlad! Gwlad!' in YMa at 18:00.
Keep an eye on the Maes for street theatre by No Fit State Circus around midday. Bamboo is the title of their show which includes bundles of bamboo, live music, comedy and sports that show extraordinary strength and agility by circus artists. The show will be repeated at 15:00.
Kitsch n Sync will also present their show, Syncro Studio, on the Maes at 17:00 and 18:00.