10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ST DAVID'S DAY

TODAY IS ST DAVID'S DAY. SO TO CELEBRATE,

HERE ARE 10 THINGS YOU REALLY OUGHT TO KNOW

ABOUT THE WELSH NATIONAL DAY.

1.   St David’s Day falls every year on March 1.

This was the date patron saint of Wales,

St. David died in 589.

2.   It wasn’t until the 18^th century though that

St David’s Day was declared a national day of

celebration in Wales.

3.   Saint David is typically depicted holding a dove,

and often standing on a hillock.

His symbol is the leek.

4.   In 2007 Tony Blair rejected calls for

St. David’s Day to become a Welsh national holiday,

despite a poll saying that 87% of

Welsh people wanted a March 1 holiday.

5. A Welsh stew, named Cawl and containing

lamb and leeks, is traditionally consumed on

St. David’s Day.

6.   Across Wales on Mar 1 St. David’s Day

parades take place, and in bigger cities

food festivals, concerts and street parties also occur.

7.   2009 saw the inaugural St. David’s

Week festival in Swansea,

a week-long event featuring music,

sporting and cultural events.

8.   Bizarrely, Disney's Mickey and Minnie turned

Welsh in 2010 when the St David's

Welsh Festival at Disneyland Paris began.

9.   Also in 2010 X Factor finalist Rhydian Roberts

performed in Swansea alongside the

Chamber Orchestra of Wales and the

Morriston Orpheus Choir to celebrate

St. David’s Day.

10.                  Despite the fact that Saint David abstained

from drinking and advised others to do the same,

a number of Welsh breweries make special

St. David’s Day ales.

Cardiff brewers Brains describe theirs as

“a light, daffodil coloured ale, dry hopped with

Styrian Goldings to create a thirst quenching

spring ale with a refreshing bite and dry hop aroma.’