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The annual Australia day Celtic Festival
at Bradfield Park on the shores of Sydney Harbour was once
again supported
by the welsh
community of New South Wales.
The Cymdeithas Cymry (Sydney Welsh Society) have close
links with the Celtic Council of Australia through long
serving members Sion Llwyd, Haydn Lloyd Davies,Gwenfydd
Cryer (Newcastle Welsh) and John Passmore who were again
prominent in flying the flag for Wales.
Brenda Povey and Judith Warren had a
great day out with their Mainly Welsh stall which specializes
in gifts which
are of course in the main, Welsh! It is great to walk into
a festival like this and see such welsh representation.Brenda
and Judith appear at festivals all over NSW and have an
extensive catalogue of welsh gifts.
Aberafan exile John Passmore has had
a long singing career with the Sydney Male Voice choir
and the Sydney Welsh choir
amongst
others.
On this day John sang as a soloist accompanied by Sion
Llwyd on piano.In his first set Passmore sang Hen waith
eto, Men of Harlech Danny Boy and Loch Lomond. Later he
sang
Cartref, We'll keep a welcome, Rose of Tralee and Bonnie
Mary of Argyle as the tall ships on the harbour provided
a picturesque backdrop.A sizeable audience applauded warmly
as they sat in the shade
of Sydney's
iconic
harbour
bridge.
When asked why he keeps singing publicly
aged 82 Passmore replied with a laugh, "punishment!" He
then continued to
say that he appears at nursing homes and is a baritone
with the
Sydney Welsh choir too and that performing is something
that he has always done. "I've been singing since i was
10 when i competed in eisteddfod's although i was always
up against it as i was a boy alto but the eisteddfod was
boy soprano stuff " he said.
Passmore has sung for so long and so
often he knows all the words by heart but he does not speak
welsh. " No, no,
no, i wish i could but i can't, but i love singing in welsh"
he said.
Elsewhere in the festival Lily Morris, Greta Jones,
Alison Uren, Shirley Colless and Helen Davies made a plentiful
supply
of welsh
cakes
and bara brith which kept the crowds going.
It is always
amusing to see visitors to the stall try a sample and
walk away, only to return seconds later to buy a bagful.
One
Indian family tentatively tried a morsel each (who
knows what rubbish these welsh put in their food)
the mother then ushered the children away as they began
to nibble
more. Sure enough five minutes later they were back emptying
their pockets in a hurry lest others take the cakesbefore
them..Simply irresistible!
There were many welsh visitors to the
park on the day. Haydn Lloyd Davies said "it was one
of the best festivals
i've been too and even better for the number of welsh speaking
visitors to the stall."
However it never surprises the number
of welsh people who have never heard of
some or any
of the many welsh
activities
in
Sydney. Indeed a few visitors happened to be in the area
and saw the flag and came down out of curiosity. To
minimise
the
occurrence
of people missing out the Welsh Society through the website
Beth Nesaf is striving to make itself more visible and
contemporary so that people can celebrate being welsh
once in a while when the mood takes them.
The next events are the official St
David’s day
dinner at Parramatta with guest speaker Aneurin
Hughes (see events diary
for details) and the young at heart social on St
David’s day at PJ O Reillys in the
city. This
is an informal gathering of welsh people who may be permanent
residents, backpacking or on a working holiday. Morgan
the Moon wrote an excellent piece on his experience a few
years back, (see the front page).
Celtic Council Member Gwenfydd Cryer with the Cymdeithas
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