A day at the eisteddfod

So its August and in Wales and if you’re a poet, singer, dancer  oh and especially a politician the Eisteddfod beckons. This year its Wrexham so the Welsh ‘crachach’ leave the capital and encamp in the North.

Now there is a ritual involved in a visit to the eisteddfod. The first thing is to do a circuit of the ‘maes’ – the eisteddfod field.

Here you will find every organisation operating in Wales with a stand. Now most will not take much of an interest in you. They spend an enormous sum of money to travel to the venue and accommodate themselves to spend a week talking to each other. It’s the Welsh way of bonding.

Now once you’ve done the circuit, which might take a little time as you’ll spend your time ducking to avoid the politicians that hover around the eisteddfod in great force. 

The audience of many a fringe event is enhanced by the public jumping in, to avoid having their flesh pressed by our elected representatives. Why is it the feel that they need to bother us even in the years that they don’t want our votes, insecurity and paranoia, perhaps.

If the main pavilion does not grab your attention and yes you have to have a special kind of endurance to spend time in the main pavilion. Most mortals have a limit to the times they can listen to the same piece being repeated in the name of competition.

There are other diversions a science pavilion, art, drama pavilions dance for those that have a cultural disposition. Indeed this blog contains some images from the Art pavilion so that you dear reader can have a taster. Your comments will be interesting!

And for those that have no cultural aspirations there are also the Society halls. Here every available prejudice can be aired and often is. Its the Mecca for the press in August. After all it’s the silly season and stories are hard to come by. Not so much the equivalent of Hyde Park’s speakers corner as the Welsh meddling class’s summer platform.

All in all a good week’s gig.