Culture of Wales

Leeks.

The culture of Wales is distinctive with its own language, customs, holidays and music.

Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and daffodil. The Welsh words for leeks (cennin) and daffodils (cennin Pedr, lit. "(Saint) Peter's Leeks") are closely related and it is likely that one of the symbols came to be used due to a misunderstanding for the other one, though it is less clear which came first.

National Holidays

See also: Welsh Holidays

The patron saint of Wales is Saint David, Dewi Sant in Welsh. St. David's Day is celebrated on 1 March, which some people argue should be designated a public holiday in Wales. Other days which have been proposed for national public commemorations are 16 September (the day on which Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion began) and 11 December (the death of Llywelyn the Last).

Woman wearing a Welsh hat

The traditional seasonal festivals in Wales are:

• 1) Calan Gaeaf (a Hallowe'en or Samhain-type holiday on the first day of winter)
• 2) Gwyl Fair y Canhwyllau (literally Mary’s Festival of the Candles, but equivalent to Candlemas and Imbolc)
• 3) Calan Mai (May Day, and similar to Beltane)
• 4) Calan Awst (or Midsummer, equivalent to Lughnasa). Additionally, each parish celebrated a Gŵyl Mabsant in commemoration of its native saint.
• Additionally, Calennig is a Welsh New Year celebration.

Music

Main article: Music of Wales

Wales is often known by the phrase "the Land of Song" (Welsh: Gwlad y Gân) and its people have a renowned affinity for singing, poetry and music.

Perhaps the most well-known musical image of Wales is that of the choir, in particular the male voice choir (Welsh: côr meibion) such as Treorchy Male Choir, Cor Meibion Pontypridd, Morriston Orpheus Choir etc. While this is certainly a part (though of greatly diminished importance) of the current musical life of the nation, it is by no means the only or the oldest part, and the choral tradition does not really stretch back significantly beyond its heyday in the 19th century.

Much older is the tradition of instrumental folk music. The harp has been closely associated with Wales for a very long time, and one kind of harp, the triple harp is uniquely Welsh. Other specifically Welsh instruments included the crwth and the pibgorn, though both fell out of general use by the end of the 18th century. Due to Nonconformist disapproval, the instrumental folk tradition fell into decline through the 19th and early 20th centuries, but has since seen a revival and is now arguably as strong as ever. The principal instruments are the harp and the fiddle, but many other instruments are used, and both the crwth and pibgorn are again being played by a small but growing number of people.

Wales also has a long tradition of folk song which, like the instrumental tradition, and for the same reasons, was long in decline but is now flourishing again. One notable kind of Welsh song is cerdd dant which, loosely, is an improvised performance following quite strict rules in which poetry is sung to one tune against the accompaniment of (usually) a harp to a different tune.

In the mid- to late 1990s new Welsh music became profound, with the chart successes of bands including Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Stereophonics and The Oppressed. These groups helped the media at the time invent the epithet "Cool Cymru", an answer to Britpop's "Cool Britannia". Prior to that, Welsh acts including The Alarm, Shakin' Stevens and Bonnie Tyler had all had high profiles, but there had never been much of a movement.

Around this time, artists such as Tom Jones, former Velvet Underground guitarist John Cale, and Shirley Bassey had something of a renaissance.

The Welsh music industry is currently in good health, with boundless creativity from many lesser known groups, and labels such as Ankstmusik, Crai, and Boobytrap Records. And, in recent years, a large alternative and punk scene has sprung up from the Valleys towns in south Wales, of which Lostprophets, mclusky, The Automatic and Funeral for a Friend have achieved notable international success. Picture Frame Seduction from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, West Wales created their own disturbing punk sound in 1978, and in 2003 they signed to Grand Theft Audio Records in Los Angeles, USA. They were once dubbed the "Welsh Sex Pistols" due to their attitude towards the music establishment in the UK.

Of late, the Welsh-language music scene has seen something of a revival owing to the influence of Welsh-speaking Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens, with bands like Plant Duw, Genod Droog, Frizbee, Cate Le Bont, Mattoidz and Radio Luxembourg. Huw Stephens also coordinated a Camden-crawl-style music festival named Swn (Welsh for "noise") in Cardiff. Every year there is a Welsh language festival in Dolgellau called Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau. Also, recently, Duffy, who comes from Gwynedd, attainned a number one single and a number one album, Rockferry.

Other recent notable bands in the Cardiff area include Los Campesinos!, Kids in Glass Houses, The Automatic, Picture Books in Winter, The School, Me and the Major, New Art Riot and Future of the Left.

Cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of Wales

Wales is traditionally seen as an agrarian country and the traditional cuisines of Wales represent this heritage. Indeed, traditional foods tend to be simple, utilising readily-available ingredients and those cuts of meat that were not readily saleable. Baking is also a large part of the country's culinary culture and these dishes (such as Bara Brith [mottled bread]) tend to be fruitcakes that will keep for many days and were often served as a workman's tea. Traditional recipes such as lob scows (a lamb-based stew), Welsh rarebit, laver bread, brithyll abermeurig (Abermeurig trout) and Penclawdd cockles tend to be regional, reflecting the foods available in that region.

Of late, however, there has been a growing trend for many chefs to re-interpret these dishes in a more modern, fusion context.. Though leeks and onions are commonly used during the year they tend to feature even more prominently in the recipes for St David's day and that other staple of the Welsh diet, locally produced lamb is also used. These days, however, more trout (especially sea trout, sewin) is also used.

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Sport

Main article: Sport in Wales

The national sport of Wales is rugby union, with the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff hosting many annual and one-off national and international events. However, in mid and north Wales, the lack of high-profile rugby teams has meant that football is more commonly played. Wales has also produced its fair share of sports people in most sporting activities from boxing to equestrianism. Although rugby union is big in Wales, (South and West Wales more specifically) there is huge success in the footballing teams, most recently Cardiff City FC reaching the FA Cup Finals in 2008, being the only Welsh team to win the FA Cup in April 1927. Swansea City were promoted from Coca-Cola League One to Championship after the 2007-2008 season.

See also

• Welsh language
• Welsh people
• Welsh cuisine
• Welsh literature
• Welsh Art
• Welsh films
• Welsh comics
• Welsh mythology
• Welsh placenames
• Welsh hat
• Music of Wales
• Eisteddfod
• History of Wales
• Geography of Wales
• List of Welsh people
• List of Welsh video games
• Cultural relationship between the Welsh and the English

External links

• Life in Wales
• Welsh Culture Official site from South West Wales Tourist Board
• Welsh writers
• Welsh Customs and Emblems