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St David’s Day

March 1, 2012 by · Comments Off on St David’s Day 

St David’s Day, Welsh people at home and abroad have been celebrating St David’s Day.

School pupils across the nation marked the festivities by turning up to class in traditional dress, while soldiers fighting on the front line in Afghanistan marked the event by taking part in a leek eating competition.

In the US, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and wife Ann are to tuck in to specially delivered Welsh cakes. Miss Romney, whose family originally hails from Maesteg, has been serving them at her husband’s campaign across the country.

And the Prince of Wales is to present leeks to the Welsh Guards during a St David’s Day parade.

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones used his annual March 1 message to reflect on the events of the past year – as well as looking ahead to 2012.

He said: “In March last year the people of Wales voted to grant further law making powers to the National Assembly. We are a proud, passionate and confident nation within the UK and the referendum vote showed this.

“Our national sport also took centre stage at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and the Welsh team put in a fantastic display on and off the field.

St. David’s Day

March 1, 2012 by · Comments Off on St. David’s Day 

St. David’s Day, Saint David’s Day (Welsh: Dydd G?µyl Dewi) is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March each year. The first day of March was chosen in remembrance of the death of Saint David. Tradition holds that he died on that day in 589. The date was declared a national day of celebration within Wales in the 18th century.

Cross-party support resulted in the National Assembly for Wales voting unanimously to make St. David’s Day a public holiday in 2000. A poll conducted for Saint David’s Day in 2006 found that 87% of people in Wales wanted it to be a bank holiday, with 65% prepared to sacrifice a different bank holiday to ensure this. A petition in 2007 to make St. David’s Day a bank holiday was rejected by the office of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

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