National Eisteddfod of Wales

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<!-- end of slate grey box --></div><noinclude>The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh: Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru) is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.

Organisation

The National Eisteddfod is traditionally held in the first week of August and the competitions are all held in the Welsh language. The Eisteddfod Act of 1959 allowed local authorities to give financial support to the event.Hundreds of tents, pavilions and little stands are erected in an open space to create the maes (field). The space required for this means that it is rare for the Eisteddfod to be in a city or town but instead it is held somewhere with more space. Car parking for day visitors alone requires several large fields, and many people camp on the site for the whole week. The festival has a heavy druidic flavour, with the crowning and chairing ceremonies for the victorious poets being attended by bards in flowing white costumes, dancing maidens, trumpet fanfares and a symbolic Horn of Plenty. However, the...
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