2022 Urdd Eisteddfod looks set to go ahead
FESTIVAL ORGANISERS HOPE IT’LL BE THIRD TIME LUCKY IN ITS CENTENARY YEAR
WALES’ largest competitive youth festival is set to go ahead during Whitsun half-term next year after being twice postponed because of Covid-19 restrictions.
The Urdd National Eisteddfod should have been held on farmland near Denbigh in May last year but was called off soon after the pandemic struck.
Officials had hoped to stage the event, which regularly attracts more than 50,000 competitors aged between six and 25, this year but fears over the pandemic caused a further delay.
Virtual festivals, called Eisteddfod T, were staged instead and broadcast on radio and television.
But now the Urdd, which celebrates its centenary next year, hopes it will be third time lucky in 2022 and has published the full list of competitions for the Denbighshire Urdd Eisteddfod.
The Urdd Eisteddfod differs from other Eisteddfodau in that two regional heats, district and county, are staged in the months leading up to the national festival.
Eisteddfod Director Sian Eirian said: “They say three goes for a Welshman and we are delighted to publish the much-anticipated competition list for the 2022 Denbighshire
Urdd Eisteddfod.
“We have to operate in hope that the Eisteddfod can go ahead as planned and so much hard work has already been put in to prepare for the event. “We will do everything in our power to stage the Eisteddfod but at this stage we can’t say for certain what the final arrangements will be. The Covid pandemic has taken those decisions out of our hands.”
She added officials have been heartened by the number of schools and individuals who have already been in touch asking for more details and copies of the set pieces.
The list of competitions, which was chosen by panels of local volunteers from Denbighshire, includes a range of stage and homework competitions for children and young people under the age of 25.
Registration for competing at the Eisteddfod in Denbighshire will open in December and closes on February 14 next year. An alternative list of competitions (called Rhestr T) will be published in the spring, inspired by the success of the digital Eisteddfod T festivals held over the last two years.
In a separate move the Urdd Eisteddfod will be announcing the winners of the composition
and creation work that was submitted in 2020 in two weeks’ time.
During the week of celebrations, which will be shared on the Urdd’s digital platforms, as well as on S4C and BBC Radio Cymru, the winners of the
Chair, Crown, Drama and Composition Medals will be revealed.
The winner of the Prose Prize will receive a Crown designed and created by the sculptor Mared Davies, and the Poetry Prize winner’s Chair has been carved by carpenter, Rhodri Owen. Rhiannon, a jewellery company from Tregaron, has created medals for Drama and Composition Prizes.
Sian Eirian added: “We are looking forward to revealing the winners of the 2020 Urdd Eisteddfod that wasn’t held because of the pandemic. We are extremely grateful to our partners for supporting our young winners and giving them the platform that they deserve.”