Ruthin children deliver powerful Peace Message at the Eisteddfod

* The Ysgol Pen Barras children deliver the Peace Message from the main Pavilion stage.

* The flags of many nations was a fitting international setting for the Peace Message.

Hundreds of youngsters from schools across North Wales and Cheshire packed into the Pavilion at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod to hear the traditional Peace Message delivered during the annual Children’s Day matinee. 

With roots that go back to the Urdd in 1922, long before it was aired at the Eisteddfod first in 1949, a fresh message is composed each year and acted out by children.

 

It always contains a powerful message aimed at uniting children from across the world and empowering them to call for a fairer world, equality and peace.

 

This year it was the turn of 50 pupils from Ysgol Pen Barras in Ruthin using not only the spoken word but also songs and poems, in both Welsh and English, reflecting the Eisteddfod’s strong emphasis on bilingualism.  

 

The 2026 message, which was to be delivered twice more, on the afternoon of children’s day and also on the Saturday of the Eisteddfod, aims to draw attention to the importance of minority languages, encouraging people from all over the world to play their part in protecting and keeping these languages alive.

 

The Pen Barras children, decked out in their smart light-blue tee-shirts with a rainbow and peace dove motif, first asked how many languages are spoken around the world.

 

And, after some suggestions in the hundreds and the thousands, they revealed that the total number is actually 7,000, which was confirmed by a Professor from their ranks in a luxuriant curly wig.

 

More seriously, they also told of how some of these languages are facing extinction before the end of the century due to globalisation, migration and climate change. 

 

During the course of the message there was a haunting Welsh poem before it ended with a powerful direct appeal to the audience, which said: “For world peace, we must respect and celebrate our differences. And the truth is, peace speaks every single language.”

 

Elen Roberts, who co-ordinates the Peace Message for the Eisteddfod’s music committee, said: “It is important that the message is delivered as it’s an integral part of the whole festival and really why the Eisteddfod exists. 

 

“It’s been in existence since 1922, since before the Eisteddfod started after the end of the Second World War at a time when all that everyone was striving for was peace.

 

“It’s also a nice thing to be doing, getting schools from different areas to deliver it. We don’t just pick on the schools local to Llangollen. Last year we had a school from Mold and this year’s message has been delivered by the school from Ruthin, who gave us a lovely interpretation of it.”