WAKEUP CALL: Cymdeithas yr Iaith (the Welsh Language Society) held a noisy protest at the Welsh government stand at the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham today by sounding alarms, blowing whistles and beating drums to “wake up” the government to the crisis in Welsh communities.  

Cymdeithas held the protest because of the government’s lack of response to the report of the Welsh Communities Commission in August 2024. Cymdeithas has criticised the government’s lack of vision.

POETRY CROWN: The Eisteddfod crown was presented to Owain Rhys today for his poem on Adfeilion (Ruins). The poem, Llif 2, opens with the simple couplet: “When you forget / every day as you wake,” and it is about the poet’s mother living with dementia.

The judges said: “The collection presents a tender picture of a difficult situation faced by so many families today.”

The Crown was designed and produced by Neil Rayment and Elan Rowlands. 

IS THERE PEACE?: Archdruid professor Meredid Hopwood told the first meeting of Gorsedd Cymru at the Eisteddfod that “our question A Oes Heddwch? (Is there peace?) does not ask us to answer with yes or no, but rather with a plea, as we respond each time with a heartfelt yearning: Heddwch! — Peace!

“There will be an opportunity to remember and reflect on the victims of wars past and present during this Eisteddfod,” she said.

100 YEARS: Plaid Cymru celebrated its centenary today at the National Eisteddfod. With recent polls placing Plaid in front of Welsh Labour and Reform UK, the party claims more people see it as a credible alternative at next year’s Senedd election.

The party was founded at the 1925 Eisteddfod in Pwllheli, and a group of cyclists rode the 100 miles to Wrexham from Pwllheli in a day to mark the centenary.