National Eisteddfod 2026

What do you think of when someone mentions the Welsh National Eisteddfod? If you have heard of it at all, you will probably be imagining a bunch of old folks in druid robes droning on about poetry while a male voice choir sings hymns in the background. And, to be fair, those things do happen. But the Eisteddfod is much more than that, as Jo Hall and I found out when we spent a day there this year.

Probably the best analogy I have is Worldcon. It is huge, it goes on for days, and it is very much a big tent event. The Eisteddfod lasts for seven days. And because there are no convention centres that could host such an event in Wales, it takes place in fields, in a bunch of actual big tents.

Like Worldcon, the Eisteddfod is very literary, but it covers all types of books, and music and theatre/film/TV as well. There’s no masquerade, but we do have the aforementioned silly druid costumes, and there are lots of competitions for poetry, prose and singing.

Naturally there are dealers, and the equivalent of fan tables. There are people selling books, clothing, jewellery and so on, plus a whole bunch of societies looking for members. I was particularly pleased to run across a stall for Heneb, the Welsh archaeology trust, and to discover that they run coffee mornings once a month at their offices in Llandeilo. They also had material on display from an absolutely amazing chariot burial from near the Eisteddfod site.

There is programming. Jo and I attended an exhibition on LGBTQ+ lives in Wales, and a discussion on community building. We also went to a cooking demonstration, which turned out to be crab cakes because we were in Sir Benfro (Pembrokeshire). The new Plaid Cymru government is very keen to engage with Welsh culture and the Minister for Culture, Heledd Fychan, was on hand to give a speech. That covered a whole bunch of things, including Wales’s success in the recent Commonwealth Games, but the thing that interested me was hearing Heledd talk abut the importance of literature to Welsh culture and her desire to help promote it as much as possible.

The programme sessions were mostly on the hour and lasted for 45 minutes, giving people time to walk to the next event that interested them. As the venue was spread across multiple fields, there were choke points at the gates between them. It was so like a Worldcon. Nothing much visibly happening for 45 minutes, then everyone rushing from one venue to another.

There was street food, obviously. Lots of choice. The jalapeno burgers were surprisingly good.

Thanks to Cyhoeddi Cymru (Publishing Wales), Jo and I had an invitation to an evening event in the Welsh Government tent. That was partly to give Heledd a chance to make another, and very book-focussed, speech, but also to recognise the fact that Aberystwyth and the county of Ceredigion has been recognised by UNESCO as a World City of Literature. The Archdruid of Wales, Mereid Hopwood, was on hand to talk about the project. With any luck, Wizard’s Tower will have a small part to play in the project in due course.

Part of the event was an interview with one of Wales’s most successful writers, Manon Steffan Ros. Her children’s book, The Blue Book of Nebo, has won multiple awards and been translated into many languages, including English. During the interview Manon was asked what it was like being invited to places such as France, Spain and even China to talk about her book. She said it was a complete shock, because no one in England had shown much interest in it, until the rest of the world started making a fuss about it. The folk singer, Cynefin, and the Town Poet of Aberystwyth, were on hand to add a little music and poetry to the occasion.

Jo and I finished the evening at the big music stage. During the day it had been running entries in a Battle of the Bands contest, in which eager groups of teenagers vied to be recognised as the next Catatonia or Manic Street Preachers. In the evening it hosted big names in Welsh music. We were there to see Bwncath.

The name means ‘buzzard’, if you were wondering about the bird symbolism on their website. They are an excellent band, but largely unknown outside of Wales because they only sing in Welsh. They remind me quite a bit of Runrig, and not just because of the non-English lyrics. Both bands have their roots in Celtic folk music: Scottish for Runrig and Welsh for Bwncath. Do check them out. I think they are great.

By the way, while the first modern Eisteddfod was held in 1819, and the first National Eisteddfod in 1861, there was a meeting of bards at Ceredigion Castle in 1176. It was held on the orders of Lord Rhys, the Prince of Deheubarth (south Wales). This year’s Eisteddfod was held near Ceredigion to mark the 850th anniversary of that event.