Morgan Jones and Mari Grug were at the Tafwyl Festival in Cardiff last weekend to film a flavour of the activities for us to enjoy in the programme Tafwyl/12: Digwyddiadau on Sunday night at 8.00pm.
Due to its success, the festival was being held this year at Cardiff Castle for the first time, moving from their old and much smaller location outside the Mochyn Du pub.
Morgan Jones was delighted to be there, despite the weather.
What were your impressions of the Tafwyl festival?
It was wonderful to see an entirely Welsh language festival being held right in the centre of Cardiff. It’s also encouraging that the festival has grown so much that they needed a larger location in order to support it which is a sign of the capital’s goodwill towards the language.
There were all kinds of activities for children of all ages and adults, and there was a colourful mix of people there. The festival of course attracted Welsh speakers but also Welsh people who doesn’t speak the language but who had come to support. Others had no idea beforehand that the festival was on but had called in as they passed the Castle.
The location was also nice because it gave people the opportunity to see Cardiff Castle as well as joining in the activities of the festival.
How did you get on in your penalty shoot-out competition?
The Football Association of Wales and the Urdd had set up a football field as part of the festival, and hundreds of children played there during the day. But also, I took part in a penalty shoot-out competition, with my fellow Sgorio presenter Dylan Ebenezer in goal. I managed to score three goals out of five, so a clear victory for me!
Also there was the Welsh football manager, Chris Coleman. It was refreshing to see a national manager wanting to be part of a festival such as Tafwyl and as I interviewed him I learned that he has also started learning Welsh, which is good news!
The public loved seeing Chris there, and he was an attraction in himself not to mention everything else going on.
What else was there to entertain you?
There were all sorts of things happening, and enough to keep Mari and I busy filming all day. The gates opened at 12, but we were there filming from 10am and we didn’t stop until past 8 pm.
There were two music stages with great performers which attracted the crowds such as Colorama, Mr Huw and Greta Isaac on the acoustic stage and also Yr Ods and Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog on the other stage.
There were all sorts of stalls including arts and crafts, food stalls and a beer tent – so something for everyone! Nearly nine thousand people came and when the day was at its busiest, around mid-afternoon before it started to rain, the field was crowded and people were like ants around the stalls. It was a sight well worth seeing.
Tafwyl/12: Digwyddiadau, Sunday 1 July 8.00pm (English subtitles)