Eisteddfod welcomes 89,000

MORE than 89,000 people attended this year’s Urdd Eisteddfod.

As well as the visitors to the Maes on the Bridgend College campus in Pencoed, 15,000 youngsters competed during the week-long event, which is Europe’s largest youth cultural festival.

And, making it all run smoothly were more than 269 staff and volunteers who, on average, walked 17km per day, a daily total of 4,573km which is equal to the distance from Pencoed to Quebec in Canada.

Aled Siôn, director of the Urdd Eisteddfod, said: “We’ve had a brilliant week at Pencoed, with everything going well. The standard of the competitions was very high – in the pavilion and beyond. We are thrilled that we can offer this platform for the children and young people of Wales to showcase their various talents.

“I would like to thank the sponsors for their support and to the army of staff and volunteers who have worked tirelessly during the week.”

For the first time, snakes were brought to the Urdd Eisteddfod by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, and more than 800 young people bounced inside a giant brain by the science pavilion, Gwyddonle.

At the Bridgend, Taff-Ely Urdd National Eisteddfod more than 200 Welsh clips were created for You Tube and 300 hours was spent creating new Minecraft worlds in Creadigol, the digital area within Gwyddonle.

In Pentre Mistar Urdd (Mr Urdd’s village), 175 children climbed a total of 105km and around 2,700 selfies were taken on the Friesian cow seat at the Brecon and Radnorshire 2018 Urdd Eisteddfod stand.

A total of 750 Mistar Urdd toys were sold and 4,060 children took part in activities in the sport area. On the Monday, the Men and Women’s Uefa Champion League cups were on display, with 750 photos taken by the cups.

Lasagne was the best seller in Caffi Mistar Urdd, with Eisteddfod goers eating 950kg of chips, 257kg of baked beans and 1,250 eggs. Over 13,000 cups of teas and coffees were also made.

Clips for the pavilion were available on You Tube, which had 72,613 views, a total of 100,074 minutes.

One stall that had a good week was Teganau Tina.

Owner Tina Roberts said: “We’ve had a really busy week here, with ‘fidget spinners’ and fashion bows selling well. Some children have spent hours here.”

There were winners in all of the main ceremonies, with Ryan Howells winning the Composer’s Medal, Rebecca Jones winning the Learner’s Medal, Mared Llywelyn winning the Drama Medal, Gwynfor Dafydd the Chair and Elen Gwenllian the Crown.