How St David’s Day events can help raise Wales’ global profile
Eluned Morgan AM explains why St David’s Day celebrations are raising Wales’ profile around the world
ST David’s Day is Wales’ national day – but the celebrations aren’t limited to Wales or to just one day.
On March 1, we saw the highest ever number of St David’s Day parades take place throughout Wales.
It wasn’t possible to move in London without being aware that it is Wales Week in London, with targeted advertising and over 135 activities being co-ordinated and organised across the capital.
The popularity of St David, known for telling his followers to “do the little things in life”, has stretched beyond our borders and around the world.
In all corners of the globe, people are donning daffodils, eating Welsh cakes and trying out a few Welsh phrases as part of the annual festivities.
Welsh Government Ministers were among those promoting Wales and raising the nation’s profile at home and on the international stage.
I was in Canada and the United States in the run-up to March 1 and following the big day, we hosted a St David’s Day event in Hyderabad, India, alongside the British Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Fleming, sion.barry@walesonline.co.uk
A red kite spanning the 110ft landing into Killmurrin Beach, Co. Waterford, by renowned Irish sand artist Sean Corcoran. The image was created to celebrate St David’s Day and the first ever Wales Week in Ireland, March 9 to 13. Wales-based sand artist Marc Treanor simultaneously created the often considered national bird of Wales on Whitesands Bay in Pembrokeshire
with representatives from Universities Wales, the Indian state government and the education sector.
Welsh food and drink producers set out their wares in Dubai and Doha, Ballet Cymru performed Romeo and Juliet in New York and a reception was held in Los Angeles for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Friendly messages came in from around the world on March 1 – representatives and partners of Wales’ 21 overseas offices in 12 different countries all bid Wales a happy St
David’s Day.
There were also messages from Uganda, Ireland, Germany, India – all countries Wales has strong links with.
Wales and the Welsh language are increasingly being recognised as global brands – and our ingenuity, creativity, compassion and expertise as a nation are helping to build our reputation overseas.
We have a lot to offer, and St David’s Day is a great opportunity for us to shout about what we can do and the successes we can achieve.
Wales’ international reputation is linked to hundreds of different subjects – everything from compound semiconductors to His Dark Materials.
We have hundreds of Welsh companies doing ground-breaking work in multiple fields and home-grown Welsh talents are becoming bigger and bigger names.
Likewise, we’re a welcoming home to thousands of individuals and companies, all of whom have been drawn here by our warm character and spirit. All of that is definitely worth celebrating.
As our International Strategy highlights, we want to make sure we don’t just maintain that reputation, we want to grow it – to help businesses in Wales to reach new markets and for Wales’ creative ventures to reach larger audiences overseas.
It’s therefore vital that we make the best use of St David’s Day and other important dates in the Welsh and international calendar to spread Wales’ confidence and success overseas, and raise our profile internationally.
That’s why St David’s Day is celebrated in places as far afield as Dubai and Berlin, Bangalore and Brussels.
And that’s not to mention the efforts of Wales’ diaspora and Welshdescended communities worldwide, in places such as Patagonia, Chicago and Australia.
St David’s famous message was “gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd” – do the little things in life.
And I think it’s that mix of humility, hard work and an understanding of just how important the little things are which makes the national character of Wales so popular worldwide.
But it’s important to remember that it’s not just for March 1 alone. During my recent visit to Canada and the United States, I had the opportunity to celebrate St David’s Day with members of the Ottawa Welsh Society and the Welsh-American community in San Francisco.
While St David’s Day may only be one day of the year, promoting Wales, and highlighting its successes and achievements internationally is a full-time, all-year round job.
■ Eluned Morgan is the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language