Welsh Journals

Is the 'National' Worth the Cost? DAVID MONTGOMERY THE NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD OF WALES, as it is now grandilo- quently called so often on the radio, has become a monster-affair. It is housed year after year in a pavilion, with 'tents' of various kinds adjoining, which run the committee into a very sizable bill for expenses. It involves thousands of pounds in costs and awards of various kinds. It brings people from all parts of the British Isles and from over the seas together at a cost of another couple of thousands. Local generosity and the traditional spirit of Welsh hospitality are strained to the uttermost to accommodate these pilgrims from afar. For a whole week there is such a jostle and crush as can be seen over such a period of time nowhere else except at race meetings or a-now very rare-revivalistic religious convention. All this involves a tremendous outlay and puts thousands of ardent folk to no end of trouble. Which is all very well if there is some adequate return to show for all the 'business' on and off'stage'. You ask- What do you mean by Return?' If the consideration is finance, there are balance-sheets published which show exactly the profit or loss in various departments. The National Eisteddfod authorities have become eminently business-like. That is a fme-and a very necessary-thing to be these days of pre- carious finance in all departments of life. We all need to know where we stand and if it is worth persevering with any undertaking. In this sense the National Eisteddfod has little reason for anxiety or gloom. It is doing quite well, thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of the Welsh people. Even remote centres like Ebbw Vale last year can invite the Eisteddfod with every confidence of clearing themselves, despite the well-known spite of the weather authorities against this traditional Welsh feast of culture. The above query is meant, however, in a wider sense. Have we something really worth-while and of abiding value to show for a week of ardent eisteddfodising ?