GBD19: Celebrating Hen Galan, the "Old New Year," in Wales

The Greg Brownderville Dimension

In this episode I tell about my recent experience celebrating a West Wales holiday called Hen Galan ("the Old New Year"). The centerpiece of the episode is my conversation with a young man named Carwyn, for whom Hen Galan and the historic pub where it is celebrated are of deep emotional and cultural importance. Bessie Davies, the woman and pub owner who did so much to keep Hen Galen alive, had passed away only a month before I arrived. The nighttime festivities still took place at her pub, but this was the first time in over seventy years that Hen Galan had been celebrated without Bessie. This meant that a certain sadness was mixed into the joy of the night, all of which I discuss with Carwyn in this episode. If you'd like to see the visuals, check out the YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRZBFd9oWGc