The Eisteddfod may be the largest and most important cultural festival of Wales but there is also international participation. There are always fraternal delegates from all the other Celtic countries and Welsh people from all over the globe attend (including a contingent from the Welsh 'enclave' at Gaiman, Patagonia).

One afternoon onstage in the Main Pavilion approximately 150 visiting Welsh people from overseas were welcomed and introduced to the audience by the President of the Eisteddfod Court, Dr. Aled Lloyd Davies. Countries represented were: Argentina (Patagonia), Australia, Canada, Italy, France, Finland, Germany, Japan, Jordan, New Zealand, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and Zimbabwe. Typically, the largest groups were from Patagonia and the USA, and this year there were 15 Patagonians, and at least 60 visitors from the US.

At another occasion, the fraternal delegates from the other Celtic countries were welcomed onstage by the Archdruid. From Ireland, Blánaid Ó Brádaigh and Muiris Ó Rócháin; from Scotland, Murchadh Moireasdan; from Brittany, Blewn an Aod and Sparfell an Hanternoz; from Cornwall, Tawennow and Myrgh Casnewydd, and from the Isle of Man, Paul Rogers and Simone Renshaw. Each of the delegations spoke to the assembled gathering in their own Celtic language.

We met a most interesting 'bodhran on legs' player from Burkina Faso (for the geographically challenged, please check Africa, west of Nigeria) who set our feet stomping with some great Djembe drumming! The Africans were there promoting handcrafts and seeking co-operation with Welsh agencies.

Denbigh itself is obviously a strong Welsh-speaking area, but one of the major newspapers had a story about an American woman of Welsh ancestry who had taught some of the local non-Welsh-speaking people some basic Welsh. This was to enable them to deal with the large influx of Welsh-speaking visitors into the area during Eisteddfod week.

TheGold Medal in Craft and Design was won this year by Claire Curneen from Tralee, Co.Kerry, Ireland. She is now based in Wales, and won $4,300 for her ceramic spiritual figures.

The Eisteddfod Arts and Crafts Pavilion is the largest mobile exhibition in Britain and is a vital forum for Celtic Artists. Following a rigorous selection process, the final exhibition contained works from 100artists, ranging from paintings,creative architecture and photojournalism, to ceramic jugs and teacups.

Among the stands surrounding the main pavilion, there were also many individual displays of handcrafts with some lovely designs for sale, and it would have been very easy to take home a suitcase full of Welsh handmade products. (Nora confined herself to a wall-plaque with an intricately carved dragon design and Robin Jones's CD, while Aideen came away with CDs of brass bands and choral singing.)

You may have got the impression from our description so far that the Eisteddfod is only for adult culture vultures. This would be unfair to the festival which also caters for families with children, and they come in their droves.

There was a separate field (Maes B) for teenagers, where there were gigs by well-known pop artists (in Welsh) both day and night, and there was no lack of stimulation for small children on the main field. As well as a nursery for toddlers,there were play activities on a number of the stands, including workshops, face painting, chats with the stars of well-known children's "soaps", computer games, balloons and stickers, and people in giant cartoon-type costumes who wandered among the crowds amazing the little ones.

Whereas Welsh cultural activities and the Eisteddfod prominently feature male voice choirs and brass bands, folkdancing is not an area where Wales can or would aim to compete with recent developments on the Irish scene. However, the Eisteddfod does have several dance competitions and a large Neuadd Dawns (Dance Hall) is located on the festival field.

In terms of numbers of active dancers in Wales, the figures are tiny, with only about 30 dance groups throughout the country and a total of much less than 1,000 members.

Traditional Welsh stepdancing is generally danced in clogs, with the dancers wearing traditional costumes which have 18th century origins. On the other hand, depending on the venue, it is often done in modern clothes and lighter shoes (at a "céilí" type occasion, or if someone is moved to show some prowess in his local pub!).

Talking to members of the Welsh Folk Dance Society, it was interesting to discover that male and female dancing follows very different styles and men and women are never to be found competing against each other. The ladies' style can be described as delicate and intricate, while the men get to show off masculine prowess with athletic type 'tricks'.

While the Society would like to see Welsh folkdance grow and develop, and innovation has always been a tradition in Welsh dance, they are determined to grow within the Welsh tradition, and not allow the inadvertent inclusion of Irish or other influences. They would not be averse to using more modern costumes, but have no intention of producing Riverdance imitations.

On the dance music scene, an important figure in the arrangement and orchestration of traditional tunes is Stephen Rees of the University of Bangor (the Ronan Hardiman of Wales?). One group which is emerging in a new approach to Welsh dance music is Crasdant whose members play triple harp, guitar, pipcorn (pipe), whistle, accordion and fiddle.