2023-2024 Compimentary Copy June 15, 2023
Welcome to Malad Published by The Idaho Enterprise
MALAD CITY IS THE HOME OF THE WELSH FESTIVAL
CROESO! Welcome to the 17th
annual Malad Valley Welsh Festival! Everyone is invited to enjoy the Welsh and pioneer traditions featured at the Festival. Come and learn about the history of Malad Valley. The 17th annual Malad Valley Welsh Festival will be June 30-July 1, 2023, and will include something for everyone, whether or not you have lived in Malad all of your life or just moved here or just passing through, whether or not you have Welsh ancestry, and whether or not you know anything about Wales. If you had been living in Malad Valley in the late 1800s, you would be well acquainted with Malad’s version of the Welsh eisteddfod. Held in Wales since the 1100s, the eisteddfod is the most prestigious poetry and choral competition in the world. Welsh pioneers brought those traditions with them, and Malad Valley hosted its own eisteddfod – one year in Malad and the next in St. John or Samaria – until World War I. Participants, spectators, and judges came from as far away as Salt Lake City to be part of the Malad Valley eisteddfod. The Malad Valley Welsh Festival is not exactly an eisteddfod because we celebrate the pioneer heritage of Malad Valley, not just the Welsh poetry and music traditions.
Poetry
This year’s Festival will be presided over by Monte John, the “2022 Bard of the Malad Valley Welsh Festival.” Monte will preside over the Festival from the decorative Bard’s Chair after being led into the Festival during the Opening Ceremony by the Knight of the Welsh Festival. The past Bards will all read or recite their winning poems at the Finale of the Festival when next year’s Bard will be chaired. The Youth Poetry Competition began weeks before the Festival with judges reading over 300 poems before determining the youth semi-finalists. The semi-finalists are invited to read their poems at the Festival and vie for cash prizes and the first place crowns at each grade level. Fifteen poems have been submitted by accomplished adult poets, and they, too, will be competing for cash prizes and the opportunity
country from which so many ancestors came. All three presentations are scheduled for both days of the Festival. Lucie Thomas Washburn will speak briefly at the Opening Ceremonies on “kindness,” the theme of the Festival. St. David is the patron saint of Wales, and he stressed the importance of kindness in his last sermon. Dean Hughes, a popular, award-winning author of LDS historical fiction and children’s books, will speak on “What It Means to Me to Be Welsh.” Many of the characters and settings for his 105 books are Welsh. Dulais Rhys, a native of Wales who now lives in Montana, will speak about “The Welsh National Anthem: Its History and How to Sing it.”
Art
The Welsh Chorus is an annual highlight of the Welsh Festival
to be the “2023 Bard of the Welsh Festival” or to receive the “Patsy Price Scott Poetry Prize.” The carved “Bard’s Chair” resides in Malad City Hall throughout the year, and plaques engraved with the names of winning Bards and Patsy Price Scott Poetry Prize winners hang on the wall there.
Music
Similar to the larger Welsh eisteddfod, music is a huge part of Malad’s Welsh Festival. The Malad Valley Welsh Men’s Chorus will perform several times during the Festival, bringing traditional Welsh songs and hymns to each event. Comprised of some of the best vocalists in Malad Valley, the Chorus will be accompanied this year by Maggie Lund. Celtic musicians, including Louisa’s Legacy, Rhiannon, and Teton Skye from Idaho Falls, will perform on the outdoor amphitheater on both days of the Festival. The Haywire Ranch String Band will bring western pioneer music to the Festival. The Friday evening concert will open with the Malad Valley Men’s Welsh Chorus welcom-
ing everyone with the traditional Welsh song “We’ll Keep a Welcome in the Valley” (with words altered to fit Malad Valley). Organist Janice Bunker will perform two traditional Welsh numbers. Then Cory and Jill Webster will take the audience back to the pioneer trail as they perform their “radio” broadcast as if from the trail that brought pioneers to Malad Valley. Music, stories, poems, jokes, and commercials will entertain everyone. Twenty talented young musicians will perform vocal, piano, and instrumental numbers at the youth concert on Friday. Adult pianists will perform at the piano ensemble concert on Saturday, concluding with Mack Wilberg’s rousing 2-piano, 8-hand arrangement of “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The Festival will close with a gymanfa ganu (sing-along) of several Welsh songs.
Presentations
Different from many festivals, the Welsh Festival always hosts presentations by experts on Welsh literature, language, and history so that attendees can learn a little about this small
Student artists submitted their Welshthemed works of art to the Youth Art Competition before school was out. The winning art will be displayed in the 2nd Ward throughout the Festival.
Wagon Rides
Wagon tours of historic sites in Malad are one of the most popular activities of the Festival. Authentic wagons (pulled by pickups, not horses) will take passengers past the many historic buildings in Malad as guides tell the stories of the sites. New this year is the walking tour of 20 marked historic sites on North Main and Bannock Streets; maps are available at the Oneida Pioneer Museum. One of the most important historic sites in Malad is the Presbyterian Church – the oldest church building in Malad, built 140 years ago and still in use. Visitors can get refreshments, including the best coffee in town, while they tour this historic “little church on the hill.”
Displays
“A Walk Through Wales” photo exhibit will show the scenery, castles, people, churches, and landscapes of this scenic country. Legend says that the first Welsh pioneers settled Malad Valley because it reminded them of their homeContinued page 2