Ontario Welsh Festival, 2007
Kingston, April 27 - 29, 2007
 The Ontario Welsh Festival/OGGA
is over for another year, and such was the success of the weekend that it took me a week to recover!
 It was the first time for the Festival to be held in Kingston for
several years and we were welcomed with open arms. Thanks to excellent publicity, the numbers of attendees was
higher than usual, and St. Paul's Anglican Church was packed on both Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
The guest choir, Côr
Meibion Prysor, under the leadership of Iwan Morgan, thrilled us with their wonderful voices, and their repertoire-
to our delight- consisted mainly of songs sung in Welsh. They are best known in Wales for their skill in Cerdd
Dant, and we were treated to two examples of the traditional "Penillion" singing. (I would have welcomed
several more, as I am particularly fond of this genre!)
The choir's soloist, Sioned
Mair, won first prize at last year's National Eisteddfod in Swansea, and won the hearts of her audience in Kingston.
 What were the highlights of the weekend? There were many! We got
off to a resounding start with Friday evening's Noson Lawen. The excitement of Saturday morning was Awr y Plant
(Children's Hour)-the first for many a year. Proud parents and even prouder grandparents beamed with delight as
they cheered on the youngsters, several of whom were from Kingston.
On Saturday afternoon, Dr.
Brian Osborne, Professor Emeritus from Queen's University, Kingston, delivered a fascinating lecture about Wales-its
past, present and future. There were so many attendees that it was standing room only. No-one wanted the seminar
to end as they had so many questions to ask Brian. But he had to rush home - to get changed in time for the evening's
Banquet!
Dr. Malcolm Williams of Kingston
was the guest speaker at the Banquet and had been of invaluable help to the Board as we prepared for the weekend.
 The raison d'etre of the weekend is the Gymanfa, and as usual,
there were two sessions of hymn singing. Iwan Morgan is well accustomed to conducting cymanfaoedd in Wales, and,
backed by his choir, he made sure that we sang with gusto. Even the Heavenly Hosts would have been hard pressed
to produce more joyous songs of praise.
The Reverend David Ward,
vicar of St. Paul's, was a charming host. He was so thrilled by the singing that he and his wife presented Iwan,
Sioned and the accompanist, Iona Mair, with flowers, a photograph of the church and a copy of a programme recently
discovered at the church during renovations. It dated back to 1928 when a visiting choir from Wales sang at St.
Paul's.
The end of a Gymanfa weekend
is always emotional. The traditional singing of "God be with you" leaves so many in tears, and we hug
and kiss, and say our goodbyes, knowing that it will be another year before many of us meet again.
Yes! A great weekend, and
a special thanks to everyone who made it possible.
Hefina Phillips
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