It’s hard to believe it’s already Wednesday and that we’re over halfway through the week
But there’s still plenty to see and do, and here are some of today’s highlights.
One unforgettable memory from last year’s Eisteddfod was seeing the Pavilion audience rise to their feet as one to honour a man who had bravely fought for years to restore his good name with the Gorsedd.
Noel Thomas is one of over 500 sub-postmasters wrongly accused of defrauding the Post Office. Noel, from Gaerwen, Anglesey, and others won their battle in the Court of Appeal and had their prison sentences quashed. But that was only the beginning of the fight for justice. This is the theme of a new drama by Catrin Jones Hughes in Y Sfferen, in the Science and Technology Village on Tuesday night and again tonight at 8:00pm. Don’t miss the chance to see it.
Theatr Bara Caws will celebrate their 50th anniversary next year, and fittingly, their first show was staged at the Eisteddfod in Wrexham in 1977. Their latest show, Has Anyone Seen the Pernod King?, will be performed tonight. Hudson and Tegid have been close friends since the late 70s and have spent every Eisteddfod (except one) together since their college days. But have the possibilities for fun passed them by unnoticed? Come to Y Sfferen at 5:00pm to find out more.
The Prose Medal is today’s main ceremony, with the Gorsedd gathering for a colourful event in the Pavilion at 4:00pm, where Aled Lewis Evans will deliver the adjudication and announce whether there is a winner of the beautiful medal awarded this year for a volume of creative prose under 40,000 words, on the theme ‘Border’ or ‘Borders’.
Another important announcement today is the Learner of the Year, again in the Pavilion at 1:20pm. But before that, there’s a chance to get to know the four shortlisted candidates in a conversation at the Welsh Government tent in Maes D at 12:00pm. The judges are Steve Morris, Francesca Sciarrillo, and Ian Gwyn Hughes.
At 6:10pm tonight, the winner of Welsh Album of the Year will be announced from the Pavilion stage. The winner is chosen from an eclectic mix of Welsh music recorded and released during the year, by a panel of industry judges. The award is jointly presented by the Eisteddfod and Radio Cymru.
Last year’s winners were Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog for their lovely album Mynd â'r Tŷ am Dro, and it will be great to see them return to the Tŷ Gwerin stage tonight at 7:45pm.
The Maes B Battle of the Bands will draw attention to the Maes Stage this afternoon, with four groups competing for this prestigious award, which has helped launch the careers of some of Wales’s biggest bands over the years.
Each band will have the chance to perform a 20-minute set of original songs for the generous cash prize and the opportunity to play a gig at Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, and hear their songs played on Radio Cymru.
And the place to be to close Wednesday on the Maes if you’re a music lover? A candlelit celebration of Geraint Jarman’s contribution in Y Babell Lên at 9:30pm, with musicians and poets coming together to remember one of Wales’s greatest icons, who passed away after a short illness in Cardiff this March.
His first album, Gobaith Mawr y Ganrif, was released in 1976, and one of the biggest nights was at the Cardiff Eisteddfod in 1978. He released several other albums as a solo artist and with his band Geraint Jarman a’r Cynganeddwyr, including Tacsi i'r Tywyllwch, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, and Diwrnod i'r Brenin.
He was honoured by the Gorsedd at the 2018 National Eisteddfod just three days after raising the roof at the Pavilion Gig concert. He was described as a “cultural giant of Wales” and “one of the most influential ever” in the many tributes published in his memory.