New residents of Malad Valley may wonder why the Malad Valley Welsh Festival is held here. And many people may think that if they are not Welsh or have no Welsh ancestry, the Festival has nothing for them.  The 19th annual Malad Valley Welsh Festival will offer something for everyone, whether or not you are Welsh!

This history of the Welsh in Malad Valley dates back to the 1860s when many Welsh pioneers settled in Samaria and throughout Malad Valley, perhaps thinking that the Valley reminded them of the green hills of Wales.  (They must have come in the spring.)

In the 1840s many Welsh people were converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by the missionary Dan Jones. The new Church promised a spiritual rebirth for the Welsh people who had been forced to give up many of their beliefs when the English took over their country and coerced the Welsh to worship according to Church of England beliefs. Seeking an opportunity to practice their new religion and adhering to the Church’s call to its converts to gather to Zion, hundreds of Welsh converts came to the United States.  

Under the direction of Brigham Young, Welsh converts moved West in wagon trains and handcart companies.  The Welsh tended to stay together in family groups and so settled in their new Zion in towns that became heavily Welsh in culture, tradition, and language.  Many Welsh families moved from the Salt Lake Valley north to Willard, Utah, and from there to Samaria, Idaho, in the Malad Valley.  Samaria became one of the most solidly Welsh communities settled by LDS pioneers.

The other reason for the Welsh leaving their country and coming to the United States in the 1850s was economic.  The English had taken over ownership of most of the mines and iron works that had made Wales prosperous. Welsh miners and iron workers barely made a living in very dangerous jobs, and small farmers were tenants to English landowners.  The Homestead Act of 1862 that promised free land in the American West to anyone who would settle and “prove up” the land was very appealing to all oppressed Europeans.

Today, Malad Valley continues to have the largest concentration of persons of Welsh descent per capita of any place outside of Wales.  The interest in Wales and all things Welsh has been rekindled in the descendants of those pioneer settlers with the founding of the Malad Valley Welsh Society in 2005. 

This year’s Malad Valley Welsh Festival will be held June 27 – 29, 2025, in Malad City Park, the adjacent church, downtown Malad, and Samaria’s Heritage Park. The Festival’s theme this year is “Castles,” and so presentations, displays, art, and poetry will be based on the dozens of ancient castles throughout Wales. Kids’ games, wagon rides to historic sites in downtown Malad, readings of original poetry by students and adults, a quilt show, original art work, family history displays, and music of all types plus food and craft/gift booths will provide entertainment for everyone, regardless of pioneer ancestry. 

A Sunday evening program will be the final event of the Festival. The speaker, Dr. Gordon Simpson, will talk about growing up in Malad in the 1940s and 1950s, which will bring the history of Malad to life.