St David’s Day is Tuesday, 1st of March and as Oswestry is a border town, ‘Where Shropshire Meets Wales’ – we like to celebrate the very best of both Welsh and English culture.
St David famously asked the people of Wales to Gwnewch y pethau bychain – “do the little things” in life, that would have a positive impact on people and our world.
To celebrate St David’s Day, the team at Visit Wales will be encouraging people across the world to discover more about the nation with an exciting new social media campaign.
It aims to introduce a global audience to Welsh characters and customs and traditions – ancient and reimagined – and highlight Wales’ strong reputation as a nation of community, caring and kindness.
36 acts of Welshness will be posted in the run up to the big day, with people asked to choose one at random, or create their own, and then share it on social media.
Suggestions include:
- Sharing some joy with a gift of daffodils to friends, family or total strangers.
- Learning some Welsh
- Give a loved one a ‘cwtsh’ – the Welsh word for hug
- Trying a 21st century take on traditional clog dancing like Bethan Rhiannon of band No Good Boyo
- Wearing Welsh high fashion such as classic Welsh blanket patterns reimagined in modern clothing
- Enjoying some new Welsh music
- Serve up some fine Welsh food and drink – from leeks to laverbread, cheese to curry half and half!
So why not get involved and join in the fun! Random Acts of Welshness – YouTube
In other news, it’s been a big week for some of our local restaurants. The Old School House has launched a new menu, Weston Pools Clubhouse is now serving food all day Wednesday through to Sunday and Niche Patisserie had a big announcement – there are now two Bake Off professionals in their team!
Sam Widnall has joined Niche Patisserie and was Adam’s assistant when they appeared on our television screens back in 2019 “Bake Off The Professionals”. Sam suffers from profound hearing loss and the team communicate through the working day via a phone app and they will also be learning sign language to support their newest member. It is very exciting to have them back working together and seeing how the pastry team is growing.
Also this week, Pen-y-Dyffryn Hotel has extended their 20% discount off all short breaks throughout March; KinoKulture has launched their March programme and Booka Bookshop have a story time event for children at 11am and 1pm on the 5th of March – please reserve your place online.
Willow Street Gallery are hosting textile artist Suzette Stuart this Saturday (26th February) from 10am to 3pm, so why not pop by for a chat about her work?
Oswestry will be alive with music next week as we hold the Youth Music festival from the 2nd to the 6th of March. Over 300 talented young performers will take part in this respected competition. There are a huge number of classes using various instruments. Performances are free to watch and are held at Christchurch and Hermon Chapel, concluding with the Sunday final at Christchurch. For the full programme, click here.
Check out our what’s on page for a full list of events this week and beyond.
Have a great week and ‘Happy St David’s Day’ from us all.