Get involved THIS year’s Urdd Eisteddfod is the most international in the festival’s 80-year history, organisers said yesterday.
As befitting its location in the heart of what was Cardiff’s multi-cultural docks, the youth cultural event boasted both its first ever competitor from Asia and a new collaboration with Disneyland Paris. Organisers said future eisteddfodau could, as a result, feature many more competitors from abroad. However, among 21,812 visitors it was the eisteddfod’s new-found diversity that stood out. For the third time running a regional eisteddfod for competitors outside Wales was held in March, with preliminary rounds for those wishing to compete in the national event. The number of competitors was the highest yet, with entrants travelling to Cardiff from Manchester, Salisbury and Derby among others, and Ysgol Gymraeg Llundain (London Welsh School) visiting for the first time.
And eight-year-old Madlen Bevan travelled 7,000 miles to Cardiff Bay from Singapore.