Prydain Learning Hub

Welsh Festivals & Traditions for Kids Calan Mai for Kids – Welsh May Day Traditions Explained Imagine waking up on the first morning of May. Houses are decorated with green branches. Bonfires have been lit. Children in one Welsh village are carrying decorated branches from door to door, while elsewhere families are preparing for fairs, singing, food and the beginning of a new season. This is Calan Mai — traditional Welsh May Day. Calan Mai in one minute: Calan Mai is the Welsh name for May Day on 1 May . Traditionally, it marked the beginning of summer in the Welsh seasonal calendar. Historic Welsh customs included decorating houses with greenery, lighting bonfires, holding celebrations, children singing from door to door, carrying decorated branches and attending fairs. Different parts of Wales had different traditions. Today, May Day in Britain is often associated with a bank holiday, spring flowers and perhaps a maypole. But ...

Welsh Festivals & Traditions for Kids Hen Galan for Kids – Why One Welsh Valley Celebrates New Year in January Most people in Wales celebrate New Year on 1 January . But in one beautiful valley in Pembrokeshire, families have kept an old tradition alive and celebrate Hen Galan — the Old New Year — on 13 January . Why? The answer involves two calendars, a change made more than 250 years ago, Welsh songs, children walking from door to door and a tradition called Calennig . Hen Galan in one minute: Hen Galan means “Old New Year” . It is famously celebrated in Cwm Gwaun — the Gwaun Valley — in north Pembrokeshire . The tradition survived after Britain changed its calendar in 1752. On Hen Galan, children traditionally visit houses and farms, sing Welsh New Year songs and receive small gifts known as Calennig . Imagine that everyone else has already put away their New Year decorations. School has started again. The Christmas holidays feel f...

Welsh Traditions for Kids What Is Calennig? Welsh New Year Tradition for Kids Imagine waking up early on New Year's Day, decorating an apple with evergreen leaves, walking from house to house and wishing your neighbours a happy and prosperous new year. That is the idea behind Calennig , one of Wales's most fascinating traditional New Year customs. Calennig in one minute: Calennig is a traditional Welsh New Year custom. Children would go from house to house on New Year's Day, offer good wishes or sing short verses, and receive small gifts such as food, coins or sweets. A particularly memorable part of the tradition was a decorated apple standing on three sticks and covered with nuts, grain and evergreen leaves . Wales has many old seasonal customs. Some, such as Mari Lwyd and St David's Day , are still widely recognised. Others are much less familiar. Calennig is particularly interesting because children were at the cen...