St David’s Day: Worldwide celebrations

Pin on your daffodil and get the Welsh cakes in the oven – it’s St David’s Day today. For those across the border in the Big Country, “Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant hapus!” – but you don’t need to be in Wales to celebrate the day in style. Whether you’re in Colorado or Hong Kong, chances are there’ll a St David’s Day party near you…

1 March: Patagonia’s largest Welsh settlement throws a noson lawen (party) with traditional dress, music, and folk dancing. Patagonia is famed for its gatherings of Welsh settlers’ descendents who pride themselves on their ancestry – see how the Patron Saint is celebrated on the other side of the Atlantic.

1 March: It was under British rule for 156 years, and the colonial legacy appears to live on. Just a few weeks after the widespread celebrations of Chinese New Year, the St David’s Society presents its annual ball for the island’s resident Welsh population. Strictly dinner dress.

1 March: Swap windy (and wet and cold) Wales for the Windy City – where the Cambrian Benevolent Society of Chicago is hosting a St David’s Day dinner – with Welsh lamb, no doubt. Ok, so Chicago has been experiencing blizzards and snow storms, but the Welsh population is a hardy bunch, and you’ll be in good company – Thomas Jefferson Vance Owen, who hailed from Wales himself, was the city’s first president.

4 March: Celebrate the Big Country in the Big Apple – the St David’s Society of the State of New York holds it annual dinner dance – now in its 176th year – for society members and guests at Manhattan’s Yale Club. Catherine Zeta-Jones will be presented with the group’s highest accolade, the William R Hopkins medal, for overseas services for Wales.

5 March: Add a little savoir faire to your celebrations in Paris, where the Paris Welsh Society will be entertaining the Cymru contingent with dinner and music by Welsh harpist Glain Dafydd.

6 March: Deep in North America’s Mid West, there’s a celebration of all things Cymru – but with a twist. With music from the Welsh Society Choir, poetry and congregational hymn singing, the Colorado Welsh Society celebrates the Patron Saint in Denver – and there’s a ‘pot luck’ dinner afterwards.

Throughout March: Welsh language newspaper Ninnau lists St Davis’s Day celebrations across North America. From roast lamb dinners in New York to cawl (stew) in Vancouver, there’s a Welsh-themed knees up in almost every state.

Throughout March: If you fancy swapping lava bread and real ale for barbecued shrimp and a cold stubby, the Welsh Australian website is well worth a look. Events are planned in Canberra, Sydney and Newcastle – and there are listings for Celtic festivals and Welsh Folk gatherings throughout the year.