Extend the Christmas Holiday a few days longer with your friends and family and join the festivities at the Welsh Christmas Celebration at the Malad Valley Heritage Square. This uniquely Welsh cultural event will be held Thursday and Friday December 28th & 29th from 3-7 pm. We invite you to join us for a delightful exploration of 5 unique Welsh traditions. 

Carols by Twilight

Experience the magic of the holiday season with traditional Welsh carols sung by twilight. There’s nothing quite as enchanting as the harmonious voices filling the crisp winter air with melodious tunes. The people of Wales are great lovers of music with carol singing becoming an indispensable part of the celebrations. People sing a lot of Christmas songs with the playing of harp as people sing around homes, Christmas trees and churches. It is during the dawn that the carolers do their rounds after which they wake the family members from sleep and ask them for refreshments. 

Calennig Celebration 

Trick or Treat Welsh Style - This is a Welsh New Year's Day Tradition which began as a Roman custom of giving olive branches on New Year as a symbol of peace and later started to be represented as a symbol of good luck. Calenigg is an apple with three legs or twigs to which you stick almonds with a small spray of evergreen on the top. The Calenigg is handed over to the children who take it to the neighborhood by singing carol songs. They receive pennies or candies in exchange for the luck which the Calenigg bring.

Toffee Evening

What holiday celebration would be complete without some sweets? Christmas toffee or Noson Gyflaith (Toffee Evening) was a traditional part of Christmas and New Year festivities in some areas of north Wales during the late 19th century. Families would invite friends to their homes for supper followed by games, making toffee (or taffy), and storytelling.

Mari Lwyd Tradition

This is one that might seem a little strange if you’re not from Wales. The Mari Lwyd is a figure made from a horse’s skull, which is decorated and paraded through the town as part of a fun and festive challenge between the MariLwyd and the townspeople. One person from the villages is chosen as the Mari Lwyd which is a pre-Christian tradition which is still carried out in Wales. He travels all through Wales wearing white clothes with a skull of horse. It’s a tradition that goes back hundreds of years, and it’s a unique part of Welsh culture that we are excited to share with you.  

Wassailing  

Wassailing is a very ancient custom that is done on New Year’s Eve and Twelfth Night, but some rich people drank Wassail on all the 12 days of Christmas. The word ‘wassail’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase ‘waes hael’. Which means ‘good health’. Originally, the wassail drink was made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar. There are two distinct variations of wassailing. One involves groups of merrymakers going from one house to another, wassail bowl in hand, singing traditional songs and generally spreading fun and good wishes. The other form of wassailing is generally practiced in the countryside, particularly in fruit growing regions, where the trees are blessed. 

Thanks to our season sponsors you can come enjoy all the festivities free of charge! A special thanks to Oxford Peak Arts Council, Dr. Thorpe - Malad Valley Dental Clinic, Hess Pumice/Hess Napa, Kenneth Tooke - Northwestern Mutual, Oneida Family Dental, Hess Lumber, ATC Communications, Nell J. Redfield Memorial Hospital, Thomas Market, and Nielsen Plumbing LLC. So come, join us, and experience a Christmas event like never before. We can’t wait to share these Welsh traditions with you.