National Eisteddfod Festival of Wales

In Welsh culture, an eisteddfod (/aɪˈstɛðvɒd/ (listen) eye-STEDH-vod, alsoUS: /eɪˈ-/ay-, UK: /aɪˈstɛdvəd, -fəd, -vɒd, -fɒd/eye-STED-vəd, -⁠fəd, -⁠vod, -⁠fod, Welsh: [e(i)ˈstɛðvɔd] (listen); plural eisteddfods^[1] or eisteddfodau[e(i)stɛðˈvɔda(ɨ)]) is a festival of Welshliterature, music and performance. The tradition of such a meeting of Welsh artists dates back to at least the 12th century, when a festival of poetry and music was held by Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth at his court in Cardigan in 1176, but the decline of the bardic tradition made it fall into abeyance. The current format owes much to an 18th-century revival arising out of a number of informal eisteddfodau. The closest English equivalent to eisteddfod is “session”; the word is formed from two Welshmorphemes: eistedd, meaning “sit”, and bod, meaning “be”.^[2] In some countries, the term eisteddfod is used for certain types of performing arts competitions that have nothing to do with Welsh culture