Planning your day on the Maes on Thursday. Here are Eryl Crump's highlights
Science and technology will be in the spotlight at the Pavilion today with the Medal Ceremony at 13:30.
This medal is awarded to recognise and celebrate an individual's contribution to the field of science and technology through the medium of Welsh.
Later, at 15:00, in the Sphere in the Science and Technology Village, friends and colleagues will pay tribute to Professor Glyn O Phillips, the man from Rhosllannerchrugog who won the first Science and Technology Medal in 2004. He was a chemist, an expert in the nuclear industry, and a regular contributor to Welsh radio and television programs until his death in July 2020 at the age of 92.
To stay with the scientific theme, Rhys Iorwerth will present ‘Is There AI?’ in the Literary Tent at 14:45, a fun panel show about artificial intelligence and poetry, featuring Catrin Dafydd, Mari George, Aneirin Karadog, Llio Maddocks, Gruffudd Owen, and Arwel Pod Roberts.
Various activities for children and young people continue in the Children’s Village, including circus skills, forest festival activities, and the Stwnsh Show. On the Village Square, there will be dodgeball, laser tag, and a giant silly volleyball, with the activities ending with a tug-of-war competition at 15:30.
One of the highlights of Maes D is the presentation of awards to those who have succeeded in the written competitions for learners.
In a special ceremony in the Tipi at 17:30, the winners will be announced – and hopefully, the judge of the Learners’ Chair competition will declare one of the candidates worthy of the prize. The task was to write a poem in any form on the theme ‘Belonging’. The prize was created by Gafyn Owen, the craftsman who designed the Chair for the best awdl or collection of poems in cynghanedd – but more about that competition tomorrow.
We’ll have the chance to hear some ballads connected to the Eisteddfod’s local area in the Tŷ Gwerin at 15:00.
Gwilym Bowen Rhys has been digging through the musical archives of the National Library of Wales and will perform some of them during this presentation.
Twenty years since their first gig, Gwibdaith Hen Frân are back together for a night in the Tŷ Gwerin.
During their time, the acoustic folk band from the Blaenau Ffestiniog area released four albums of memorable songs. We might hear ‘Gwena’, ‘Coffi Du’, and ‘Car Bach Fi’ among other songs in the gig starting at 21:00.
‘The Welsh Novello’, two centuries of the publishing company Hughes and Son, will be featured in Encore at 13:30.
Rhidian Griffiths will share some of the history of Wales’ most prolific music publishing company in the 19th and 20th centuries, with performances by Octave Cymru.
A children’s show, ‘The Butterfly’s Miracle’, will be on the Maes during the afternoon.
A collaboration between Arad Goch Theatre Company and Musicfest Aberystwyth, it follows a caterpillar’s journey through the seasons on its way to becoming a beautiful butterfly, with new music by violinist Simmy Singh and folk singer Owen Shiers (Cynefin), and dancer Krystal S Lowe. Look out for them at 13:00 and 15:00 today.
A celebration of the work of the late Childe Rowland/Peter Meilleur, a multilingual, experimental poet from Quebec, Canada who moved to Llangollen in 1979, will be held in Y Lle Celf at 17:15. Aled Lewis Evans and Aled Roberts will take part, with music by Beth Jones.
Former Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones will present a lecture considering the impact of the rise in national awareness at the end of the 19th century on the founding of Plaid Cymru in 1925.
The party began following a meeting at the National Eisteddfod in Pwllheli that year. The lecture, ‘From Future Wales to Plaid Cymru: The Journey’, organized by the Plaid Cymru History Society, will be held in Cymdeithasau 2 at 12:30.
A very different kind of Eisteddfod will be held in the Literary Tent tonight as ‘Steddfod Stifyn’ takes a tongue-in-cheek look at competing, in the company of some of Wales’ celebrities. Come and find out who Stifyn Parry is trying – or failing – to keep in order from 21:00 onwards. So close the back doors, sit down, and come have a laugh!
On the Maes Stage at dusk, two of Wales’ leading bands will present very different sets.
9Bach is one of Wales’ most inventive bands, combining indigenous Welsh music with contemporary sounds and rhythms. By reimagining and redefining cultural identities, their music bridges the past and present.
The group from Dyffryn Ogwen will be on stage at 19:20, followed by Adwaith at 21:00, the innovative trio from Carmarthen who will close tonight’s programme. Known for their unique blend of post-punk, alternative pop, and experimental indie, they’ve been pioneers in the alternative music scene promoting Welsh on international stages for several years.