6 days ago
- Entertainment
- North Wales Chronicle
Dafydd Iwan marks end of 60 years of performing at Eisteddfod
Dafydd and his talented band took to the stage in Wrexham on Sunday afternoon (July 3) with several thousand people expecting him to sing some of his favourite songs. And they were not disappointed.
He said: "The line has to be drawn somewhere, and I'm looking forward to enjoying several more 'Steddfods' from the back seats!"
But Dafydd emphasised that he will not stop singing completely.
He added: "I know it's a bit of a joke that I want to stop singing. I've been trying to retire for years. But I want to stop singing with the band.
"Don't get me wrong, I enjoy singing with the band. I'm having amazing fun singing with them behind me but I felt it was appropriate now to stop the big nights but it's starting to get boring, the late nights and all the arrangements to get everyone together so after August singing by myself to the accompaniment of the guitar, some kind of conversation and song, would do."
(Image: Aled Llywelyn) Dafydd was determined to make sure that the last performance on the main stage was a memorable one.
He said: "I have enjoyed performing on Llwyfan y Maes and I have very happy memories when a huge crowd came to the Maes in Tregaron. It was the first Eisteddfod was after the coronavirus pandemic and the first after Wales fought through to the World Cup finals. There were a large number of young people in the audience and they knew the words to my songs.
"It was a very special occasion that remains alive in the memory."
When reminiscing about past Eisteddfods, Dafydd said the first one he performed was the Newtown National Eisteddfod in 1965.
He said: "That was a memorable Eisteddfod. For some reason I was staying at a school in Machynlleth. Canvas beds had been placed in classrooms and people were sleeping in the rooms. Among those there were Waldo Williams and Eirwyn Pontshân.
"The ones in Newtown were informal and unofficial performances. Singing by myself to the accompaniment of a guitar only around the Maes yr Eisteddfod. It was something quite similar for a few years.
"The pattern in the Pavilion at that time was a classical concert after the competition was over for the day. I saw an opportunity, with others, to organise something more experimental and use the Pavilion to host joyful evenings and folk singing gatherings after the concert.
"At the Ammanford Eisteddfod in 1970, something a little different was organised. Painting the World Green was the title of a show of songs with a sort of story in them and that late in the Pavilion.
"There were certainly no problems with the Pavilion being cold but as it was new the place was full and we had a lot of fun."
At the beginning of the 1970s Cymdeithas yr Iaith organized musical evenings for young people and Dafydd took part in a number of these.
One of the most famous of these nights was Tabodau Tan in the Corwen Pavilion during the Ruthin National Eisteddfod in 1973.
