The inaugural “Gŵyl y Gwach” Festival was held at the Pontardawe Inn (known locally as the Gwachel) the weekend of the 16th-17th of July and was officially opened by Dafydd Hywel the Welsh actor. The Festival was organised by Menter Iaith Castell-nedd Port Talbot and was intended as an extension to their monthly Welsh language gigs which are held at “The Gwachel” Pontardawe.

The Festival kicked off on the Friday evening in the company of Dewi Pws, Ryland Teifi and Radwm, who managed to provide a wonderful evenings entertainment of traditional music and humour, with participation from a very willing audience during “Lleucu Llwyd”, “Beic penny farthing fy nhaid” and “MOMFG”.

Saturday afternoon was far more family orientated with a bouncy castle, circus skills,a variety of games and stalls, traditional folk dancing and a real fire engine for children to see at close quarters. During the afternoon the Festival welcomed two special guests in “Superted” and “Dewin” who entertained the children (and adults) with their dancing skills!

Four bands from all over Wales were invited to perform on the Saturday evening, Yr Alltud (Swansea), Adrift (Cardigan), Bandana (Caernarfon) and Sara Mai a’r Moniars (Anglesey). All the bands gave excellent performances especially Sara Mai a’r Moniars, who performed a wide variety of songs which included “Rhywbeth amdanat ti”, “Baker Street” and even the Jimmy Hendrix classic “VooDoo Child”. The Festival was brought to a very fitting close with the singing of the Welsh National Anthem, traditional version first, followed immediately by the rock version.

The Festival proved to be a huge success and arrangements are already being made for “Gŵyl y Gwach 2011”.

Menter Iaith would like to thank Cat, Jason and staff at the Gwachel for their continued support, committe members and volunteers for all their hard work during the weekend and most importantly everybody who turned up to support “Gŵyl y Gwach”. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

The next “Gigs y Gwach” is on Friday the 17th of September at 8.30pm at the Pontardawe Inn, with Meic Stevens.

Rhydian Roberts is well known by most for coming second in the fourth series of The X Factor. He's a Welsh operatic singer from Sennybridge whose already sung at the Millenium Stadium at the Grand Slam party 2008 and recently before the Autumn Internationals. Menter iaith Castell-nedd Port Talbot had the priviledge of questioning Rhydian about his passion for the game.

Click on 'Ospreys Rugby' on the left hand side if you would like to read more about Rhydian.

Two Coffee and Chat sessions were arranged wednesday, 9 December in Remo's Cafe Aberafan in partnership with Communities First. The response was very good, with Welsh speakers, learners and prospective learners joining Menter Iaith staff to chat over a coffee and a mince pie.
Due to the success of the sessions, arrangements are in hand to arrange similar events in the new year.

Thursday night saw another successful night at the Gwachel, with performances from Andrew Lewis and Gai Toms. Andrew has performed many times in Gigs y Gwach and is a familiar face by now. Following Andrew was the popular artist, Gai Toms. He performed a fantastic set which lasted almost two hours, with the audience still shouting for an encore! Not only did he sing his own songs, he also performed songs by Meic Stevens, and played a few requests too. A good night was had by all.

Thanks to Menter Iaith Castell Nedd Port Talbot 40 young people from the county were fortunate enough to be a part of the audience of the popular television programme ‘Jonathan’ filmed in the Pop Factory in Porth, Rhondda.

To read more about the trip click on 'Youth' on the left hand side.

LOL - Film Quiz - Brynaman Rugby Club

Monday the 9th of November was a special day for the residents of Port Talbot & the Neath and Afan
Valleys – the launch of an unique CD and Website to record the local Welsh dialect of the area.
Extensive research was conducted over a period of eighteen months to interview as many local people who still speak this dialect. These were then edited & compiled into a unique record of a special time and place.
The Heritage Officer for Menter Iaith Castell Nedd Port Talbot, Alltwen-born Eurof Williams produced the project. “It was a privilege and honour to meet and record so many interesting and welcoming people. Their stories, and the local Welsh dialect, through the CD and Website will now live on forever.
A copy of this disc has been presented to The Welsh Museum of History & Life, Sain Ffagan, and the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth.
A free copy of the CD is available from local libraries, or by post from Menter Iaith Castell Nedd Port Talbot; The Cross; Pontardawe; Swansea SA8 4HU
Details of the project can also be seen on the "Tafod" website: www.tafod.net

A walk to 'Sgwd Gwladys' was arranged by the Neath Sub-committee Saturday, 10 October under the leadership of Heulen Roberts, Pontneathvaughan.