Happy St David’s Day 2025!

Good afternoon everyone,

How are you doing lately?

It’s the 1st of March, so you know what that means – Happy St David’s Day! We’re going to be taking a look at some of my thoughts surrounding this special day in today’s blog.

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Being born and raised in the Swansea valleys, Wales has always held a very special place in my heart. Welsh was my first language, with my grandparents, Nana and Cap, teaching me the beautiful language when I was growing up.

I’ll be honest, I started to stop using my Welsh as much when my nana’s Alzheimer’s really started to deteriorate, and then it dropped a little further around the time they both passed away. About a month or so after my grandfather’s passing, I wanted to get back to speaking it all again, and it’s been a super fun process of relearning the language again over the last two years 🙂

So, what is St David’s Day?

Saint David is the Patron Saint of Wales, somebody who we celebrate each year on the 1st March. Around this time, in schools around Wales, kids take part in their local Eisteddfod – which if you are unfamiliar, is basically a Welsh competitive festival of poetry, music, acting and the arts.

I was lucky enough to even make the final of the national Eisteddfod a couple of times with our brass band going through school, which was a great laugh!

We also used to do “dawnsio gwerin”, our version of folk dancing when we were in primary school, for the occasion (thankfully, there are no videos of me doing it, at least I hope not!)

For me, St David’s Day is a reminder of my roots. Growing up in Wales, the language, the music, and the traditions shaped so much of who I am today. Even after drifting from Welsh for a while, coming back to it has made me appreciate just how important our culture is, and how lucky we are to have a day that celebrates it.

Wales is a country with a rich culture and language, celebrated by Welsh people far and wide. So a very Happy Saint David’s Day everyone, or as we’d say in Welsh – Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus pawb 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

That’s all for today’s blog, what do you think? Do you actively celebrate your culture and/or heritage? How’s your week been?

I’d love to hear your thoughts ⤵️

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!