Centenary Calendar

The Urdd’s Centenary Celebrations

Here is a taster of our centenary celebrations calendar of events. We’re listing the highlights here; keep an eye on our social media platforms and website where details of our celebrations will be regularly updated.

Major Events

The Urdd’s Birthday Party on Cariad @ Urdd day and two Guinness World Records™ title attempts – 25 January
The Urdd Eisteddfod, Denbighshire. 30 May – 4 June
A festival within a festival - exciting plans to hold a festival within a festival during the last weekend of the Urdd Eisteddfod, Denbighshire – more information will be revealed soon.
The Urban Games – A three-day event (17 - 19 June) where Cardiff Bay will be completely transformed! Young people from every part of Wales will come together to compete in the new Olympic urban games, with competitions such as BMX and skateboarding.
#FelMerch conference. 5-6 March. A conference to inspire and empower young women aged between 14 and 25.
Urdd WRU 7s – The largest youth rugby tournament in Wales in partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union, to be held on Pontcanna Fields, Cardiff between 4 – 8 April.

International

2022 also marks the 100th year of the Urdd Message of Peace and Goodwill, and our aim is for it to be shared worldwide on 18 May.
The Urdd Choir’s visit to Alabama. In 2022, the youth choir will be given the opportunity to travel to Birmingham, Alabama to perform and to learn more about the area’s history of civil rights and gospel music. The opportunity is the result of the Urdd’s transatlantic partnership with Alabama University in Birmingham. We also hope to see the UAB Gospel Choir visiting Wales to perform at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Denbighshire.
The Urdd and TG Lurgan - following the launch in March 2020, the Urdd’s partnership with TG Lurgan has gone from strength to strength. Within a week of its release, the song ‘Golau’n Dallu / Dallta ag na Solise', a Welsh adaptation of the popular song ‘Blinding Lights’, was viewed over 86,000 times across our platforms, and within a month it had reached 110,000. The aim in 2022 is to take a group of the Urdd’s members to a production camp in Ireland and to arrange a similar visit in Wales during the summer. Keep an eye out for live performances, as well!
Norway – a unique trip to Norway will be arranged for some of the Urdd’s members. More details to be revealed soon.

The Arts and Resources

What would Sir Ifan think of the Urdd today? A lot has changed since he and his wife, Eirys, established this unique organisation a century ago. This show imagines Sir Ifan's response and gives us the opportunity to re-live and be part of the movement's early days. Come and celebrate the Urdd's birthday in the company of the man himself, Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards. More information here.
A partner to the NAFOW festival in America – Gŵyl Gymreig Gogledd America. Some of the winners from Eisteddfod T 2021 and the Urdd Eisteddfod 2022 will travel to America to take part in this unique festival in Philadelphia in September.
A selection of education resources for schools about the Urdd’s work will be available on the HWB website from January 2022.

Partnerships

The Urdd is the official third sector partner of Team Wales for the Commonwealth Games. The winning choir in the S.A.T.B. Choir, ages 14–25 (Youth Clubs) will perform as part of the Team Wales celebrations as we look forward to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in the summer of 2022.
The National Library of Wales exhibitions
Celebrating the Urdd
A rolling display of iconic items from the library’s collection will feature throughout the centenary year.
25/01/2022 until the end of 2022

Peace and Goodwill Message
An exhibition highlighting the Urdd international Peace and Goodwill message through the decades and its impact across the world.
18/05/22-12/05/23
St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff – an opportunity to view iconic objects that convey the Urdd’s story and its influence in a new exhibition to note the movement’s centenary. The exhibition will open 25 January 2022 and close on 5 June 2022. More information here.
The People’s Collection Wales - Share your stories and photographs to celebrate the Urdd’s past and present activities.
View the full collection.
Bangor University online exhibition

Residential Centres

This is an exciting period in the history of our Residential Centres as we develop, expand, and offer more experiences than ever before.

We will be opening ‘Calon y Gwersyll’ (The Heart of the Centre) at Llangrannog Residential Centre following a £5M investment. The development will offer a brand-new dining area, an additional sleeping block and new facilities to offer the best to visitors.
Pentre Ifan will be transformed into Wales’s first environmental residential centre, with the aim of motivating and educating young people to become knowledgeable and principled regarding their environment and inspire others to consider the long-term effects of climate change. The renovation work worth £1.2M will transform the five buildings on site into an environmentally friendly residential centre which will offer en-suite accommodation for 55 people, as well as multi-purpose rooms, an open-air kitchen, catering and washing facilities that use solar power, a kitchen garden and glamping facilities.
A brand-new water sports centre with modern facilities will also be opened at Glan-llyn Residential Centre.

The Media

As part of the celebrations, a new television series is being produced by Boom Cymru for S4C. The series will give families, groups of friends, co-workers, and relatives the opportunity to go back in time to a different decade. The television company is looking for people to take part in the production. Email llangrannog@boomcymru.co.uk if you’re interested.
S4C will broadcast a variety of programmes during the year that reflect the history, the events and the celebrations of the year.
BBC Cymru Wales is one of the Urdd’s partners, and BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio Wales will be broadcasting partners for the birthday party. The BBC will also ensure a variety of programmes to reflect the celebrations throughout the year.

We’ll be sharing more information about all our events over the coming months. If you have any enquiries, contact us at helo@urdd.org or if you’d like to discuss partnership and sponsorship opportunities, contact lydiajones@urdd.org