The crown and chair of the Eisteddfod y Garreg Las, the traditional prizes for the best free-verse poem. Photograph: Joann Randles\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
\u201cThe eisteddfod is Glastonbury on wheels, basically, so I don\u2019t know why it goes so under the radar in the rest of the UK,\u201d says Marc Rees, the creative director who has brought Lord Rhys back to life as a 5-metre puppet for this year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s this massive festival of music and poetry and dancing and some incredible bands: the Super Furry Animals are playing this year. It has a different character every year and it\u2019s always so joyful.\u201d<\/p>\n
double quotation markIt is amazing that the eisteddfod is still developing and evolving every year and is a dynamic and modern festival John Davies, eisteddfod chair<\/p>\n
Lord Rhys, created with input from the community by Cardigan\u2019s Theatr Byd Bach, has been touring the area after being \u201cawoken\u201d from his deep sleep in St David\u2019s Cathedral, visiting towns and villages around the area in the run-up to the eisteddfod\u2019s opening on Saturday. Travelling with him have been this year\u2019s crown and chair \u2013 the traditional prizes for the best free-verse poem, since Lord Rhys awarded a chair at his table to the first winner \u2013 as well as Teifi, his faithful hunting dog.<\/p>\n
Since this year\u2019s location was announced in 2024, local fundraising committees have raised \u00a3400,000 for staging the event, and hundreds of volunteers have prepared the site near the village of Llantwd for this week\u2019s festivities.<\/p>\n
The Wilyman family, visiting from Haverfordwest. Mum Elliw is taking part in several competitions throughout the week. Photograph: Joann Randles\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
John Davies, chair of Eisteddfod y Garreg Las\u2019s executive committee, says: \u201cI hope that Lord Rhys himself would have enjoyed the trip \u2026 850 years is a long time, and it is amazing that the eisteddfod is still developing and evolving every year and is a dynamic and modern festival that offers something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Lord Rhys\u2019s time, bardic schools in Wales<\/a> were closed during the Edwardian conquest, and eisteddfodau to some extent fell into abeyance.<\/p>\n The tradition enjoyed a revival in the 18th century thanks to London-based Welsh literary and cultural societies, and the modern iteration owes much to the Gorsedd Cymru<\/a> \u2013 at the time a secret society of poets, writers and musicians, heavily influenced by druidism and mysticism.<\/p>\n
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