Col_Buendia said:
Well, can I ask - at the risk of having an enormous amount of piss taken - what is it exactly that they get up to at it? I mean, I am assuming it is not some sort of Welsh language Glasto, is it?
Daytime:
On the main site you have the 'Maes' (literally 'Field') which has competitions which you'd probably associate with any Eisteddfod (singing, dancing, reciting etc), but you also have art, drama, poetry etc. There's also a large learners area. There are now lots of small outdoor stages scattered about the Maes with various performances taking place thoughout the week, that range from bands playing to competitors having a bit of practise.
If you don't speak Welsh you might find it difficult to appreciate poetry and drama, but the visual stuff is accessable to anyone and so is music. There's loads of stalls from various organisations and companies, some of which are interesting. For people who've never been to an Eisteddfod there are people in red t-shirts with 'Here to Help' on them to guide you (in Welsh or English) through what's going on and where and when it's happening.
In the evening:
There's also a Maes-B which is a sort of mini-Glasto. It's an enclosed camping site for the young-uns with an associated marquee. This is a sort of spin-off run by the Eisteddfod and usually has two stages with about 8 acts on each night. Each evening tends to have a theme, like Rock, Dance, Hip-Hop, Folksy/Acoustic etc.
The bands playing here will be announced on
www.maesb.com soon (this site lists gigs organised by Maes B at varius locations through the year.)
In true Welsh style there's a split and Cymdeithas yr Iaith hold their own gigs during Eisteddfod week ( itend to go to these). They like to hold gigs in the towns that host the Eisteddfod rather than everything happening out of town so that local pubs and businesses benefit.
They have just announced that their gigs will take place in Barons night club in Swansea (remember club scene in Twin Town?) and Glamorgan Arms in Pontlliw. Line-ups to be confirmed.
Links
i've found BBC pages with winneres of all the different Art & Crafft (
Celf a Chrefft) categories for the 2002 and 2003 National Eisteddfod
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/celf/eisteddfod02/winners.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/celf/eisteddfod03/winners.shtml
Pensaernïaeth - Architecture
Ysgoloriaeth Artist Ifanc - Young Artist Scholarship
If you lick on the photo's in each category, you get to a page for the artist. At the bottom there's a drop-down-menu with a list of other artist who also competed in the same category, click 'Ewch' (Go) to view their work.
Sorry for going on about it, but the Eisteddfod has an image problem among Welsh speakers never mind non-Welsh speakers, and I'd just like to give a fuller picture when people ask. Feel free to ask me more questions, maybe I'll dig this thread up and start a fresh one about the Eisteddfod nearer to August.
) you may not be getting the complete picture.
Thanks for that very informative post, Ben. One last question, though - if you can be perfectly honest about this - as a complete non-speaker of Welsh, would I be wasting my time at the Eisteddfod? Cos if it's basically a language-based celebration of culture, that's fine, I don't have an issue with that, but I'd rather not hang out with a bunch of people who don't want to/can't talk to me. IYSWIM 
but I did manage to sleep under a car, whose driver then picked me up hitching on the way back to Cardiff. ( which was lucky )
