Rt. Hon Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales
This was published under the 2011 to 2016 administration of the Welsh Government
The National Eisteddfod has long since established itself as a cornerstone for Welsh language and culture. From the day that the Eisteddfod announces it will visit a certain area, there are opportunities for people of all ages to take part in a variety of activities in their local community. All of the activities that form a part in holding an Eisteddfod, be it establishing local committees, fundraising, the week long festival itself that attracts visitors from all parts of Wales and beyond, to the positive effects it leaves behind, all contributes to the Welsh Governments aim to promote the Welsh language. The National Eisteddfod and the community development aspects of its work are very important to the Welsh Governments language Strategy A Living Language: A Language for Living especially following the results of the 2011 Census.
At the Vale of Glamorgan National Eisteddfod 2012 the then Minister for Education
and Skills, Leighton Andrews AM, raised the question of whether the Eisteddfod
should modernise. A Task and Finish Group was established in October 2012 in
order to present him with recommendations in relation to how this could be achieved.
The Group was chaired by Roy Noble. The full Report was published on 24 October 2013 and included 9 recommendations. To see the report in full please see online.
The Welsh Government welcomes the report and its recommendations. The Group’s recommendations fit closely with our current policy direction as outlined in the Welsh Language Strategy A Living Language: a Language for Living. Whilst we are pleased to be able to accept the recommendations in principle, and support the operational steps that can be taken, further considerations will need to be made to some of the longer term recommendations due to their financial implications.
The recommendations in the report are reasonable and offer a clear vision on how the Eisteddfod can develop and modernise. The Welsh Government will award £90,000 to the National Eisteddfod to implement several of the recommendations. We will now hold further discussions with the National Eisteddfod so that they can respond to the report’s recommendations and we look forward to continuing to work alongside the National Eisteddfod in future.