Message of hope in the land of song

By Terry Waite - 08/08/2008

Mention the word “Eisteddfod” and I would guarantee that the most people outside of Wales would think of a Welsh speaking event with some participants dressed in white sheets as druids.

Well, that is the Welsh Eisteddfod and is quite different from the International Musical Eisteddfod which is held each year at Llangollen in North Wales. Several years ago I was elected President of this Eisteddfod (incidentally the word means a gathering) and when I was first approached I said “Why me. I’m not Welsh speaking?”

I was informed that this was the International gathering and participants came from over 50 countries to take part in one of the most comprehensive musical events of its kind in the United Kingdom. Last week I took my annual pilgrimage to this lovely part of Wales and as always it was a great and colourful occasion.

On the first day of the festival the Eisteddfod site was opened to hundreds of school children from across the country. They explored the site, calling in at the variety of stalls selling everything from Welsh cakes to carved walking sticks and of course entering the performance hall to watch choirs and other young artists
drawn from countries as far apart as Australia, South Africa and Poland.

For a whole week the Llangollen Valley is full of music and visitors from across the world. The Eisteddfod was started shortly after World War two by local people with the idea of promoting international understanding through the language of music and the arts.

To see young people from vastly different cultures and religions sharing together is truly inspirational and each year I come away feeling so much better for the experience. Music truly has the capacity to breathe harmony into the soul and few people know that better that the Welsh themselves. On the Tuesday morning when I visited several of the stall holders and officials of the Eisteddfod, without exception they said how polite and well mannered the visiting school children had been. That was also true of the participants.

I make a point of mentioning this because during the past few weeks the media has been dominated by terrible stories of knife crimes.

There have been so many reported incidents that one might be forgiven for thinking that the majority of young people are lurking on street corners with concealed knifes in their possession.

Young people do not get a good press these days but are we being given a balanced picture?

Take some of the so called “Reality Programmes” shown on TV. The producers deliberately choose a certain type of young person which is by no means representative of the majority of young people.

Then there are the programmes supposedly made to encourage young entrepreneurs where deliberate rudeness and aggression appear to be encouraged and applauded.
Frankly, I don’t watch such rubbish - in fact I hardly switch on the TV these days but that’s another matter.

I can honestly say that my week at the Eisteddfod did me a power of good. It helped me restore my faith in human nature and especially in the young people of this world. Perhaps next year the BBC will give national coverage to Llangollen. It would certainly cheer the nation up a bit.