AmeriCymru:  Hi Bob and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. What can you tell us about the history of the Welsh Festival?

Bob:   “The Fredericksburg Welsh Festival ”, originally “A Little Welsh Festival”, was started back in 1989 by John Pearce, then the Director of the James Monroe Museum in Fredericksburg. John’s ancestry was Welsh and he had discovered that our fifth President, James Monroe’ s mother, Elizabeth Jones, was the daughter of a Welsh emigrant. While the Irish and the Scots have always been very successful at advertising the contributions of their Celtic ancestors, the Welsh have not. To remedy this, the first Welsh Festival was held in September 1989, in the garden of the James Monroe Museum, located on the site of James Monroe’s first law office. Entertainment was provided, among others, by Roslyn LaDrew, a professor of Celtic studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Welsh folk singer and Sian Frick, Welsh folk dance instructor. Both of these individuals are still performing for us today. After about ten years, the festival had grown and it was decided to change the name to “The Fredericksburg Welsh Festival”

AmeriCymru:  There is a strong emphasis on traditional music at the Festival. Can you tell us a little about this years performers?

Bob:    We have a strong group of performers this year. We seem to go from success to success. The entertainment will begin with the Stafford Regional Choral Society under the direction of Kevin Perry. Kevin is the music director at my church and also, along with his wife Barbara Perry, the director of the Choral society. We have had other choruses in the past: The Rehoboth Welsh Chorus and the Burry Port Male Chorus and the British School Chorus. I helped Kevin perform Calon Lan at our church and he loved the music, so we decided to have the Stafford Regional Choral Society perform for us. This will be their third year. They do a mixture of Welsh folk tunes as well as some Broadway and pop songs as done by choirs back in Wales. This year they will be adding the love duet between Blodwen and Hywel from Joseph Parry’s opera “Blodwen”. There are three bands featuring Welsh folk tunes and some venturing to other Brythonic lands such as Cornwall and Brittany. First folk group on the program will be a new Welsh folk group “DragonFyre” featuring Welsh- American folk singer Jodee James (guitar, lead vocals) and Dave Rich (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Deb Wenrich (fiddle, accordion, vocals), James Brown (guitar, bodhran, vocals) and Bob Roser (highland and small pipes). Iona, the top Celtic folk band in the Mid Atlantic area will return again featuring Barbara Ryan (guitar, bouzouki, bodhran, lead vocals) , Bernard Argent (wind instruments), Jim Queen (fiddle, banjo and vocals) and Chuck Lawhorn (bass guitar). Moch Pryderi, which got its start at the Welsh Festival, will feature Bill Reese(bouzouki and anything with strings and wind), Mary Triola (Celtic and Triple Harp, whistles, flute), Rik Rice (percussion), Paul Burgess (highland pipes, shuttle pipes and whistles) and Luke Gray (fiddle). Moch Pryderi also plays for the Fredericksburg Welsh Dancers who will finish up the main stage entertainment. Besides dancing for your enjoyment, there will be an audience participation set.

AmeriCymru:  In addition to the music, there are many other attractions. Can you tell us some of the highlights?

Bob:   We always have a full set of attractions and talks in Mrs. Monroe’s garden behind the Museum. Each year has had a slightly different lineup. This year we have the following thirty minutes programs in the Garden. Bill Reese and Mary Triola will discuss unusual Welsh musical instruments such as the pibgorn. Jay Harrison will portray Colonel James Monroe and discuss his life and times. Later he will also do a talk on James Monroe’s Revolutionary War service. Monroe was seriously wounded at the Battle of Trenton. Sian Frick will discuss Welsh customs. John Gwyn, who is the winner of our annual Festival Bard award, will do a program of Welsh hymns and folk songs on the guitar in a more intimate setting than the main stage. Trip Wiggins will discuss Welsh genealogy. Bob Roser will give a short Welsh language lesson. Prize winning Welsh storyteller Cindy Roser will present a program of Welsh folk tales. The Rappahannock Rugby Club will discuss rugby. In the past we have had a genuine Rhondda Valley rugby player, but Rowland Evans is not available this year. Roslyn LaDrew will discuss the Mabinogion. Chris Pugh who is a Middle Ages reenactor will discuss the Medieval long bow, which was a Welsh weapon. There will also be a Medieval Welsh display in the vendor area. There will be a number of vendors selling Welsh goods, Welsh books, and the Infamous Welsh Cookie Company will be here once again. The Honey Baked Ham store will appear for the first time this year. We have a Welsh information booth run by the Welsh Society and another with Cheryl Mitchell from the St. David’s Society of Washington, D.C. complete with brochures from the Welsh Tourist Board.

AmeriCymru:  The Festival is organized by the Welsh Society of Fredericksburg Virginia. Please tell us a more about the society and its work?

Bob:   The Welsh Society of Fredericksburg was formed at the first Welsh Festival in 1989. Last year was our 25 ^th Anniversary of both the Festival and the Society. Besides the Welsh Festival which takes a lot of effort, each year we have an annual picnic, a Christmas Noson Lawen, a St David’s Day pot luck, and six programs on Wales. We have given talks on Wales to organizations and schools in the Fredericksburg area including the University of Mary Washington. We have attended the University’s multicultural festival usually in conjunction with the Scottish Society. We have had a Welsh language course on several occasions. We have marched in the annual Christmas parade along with the Scottish Society and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. We publish a monthly newsletter, The Cambrian. The Welsh Society is very active and we are always ready to help spread the contributions of Wales to our community.

AmeriCymru:  OK...so, when and where? Can you give us some directions?

Bob:   We time the festival to be at the same time as the University Parents’ Day weekend. The Welsh Festival is on Saturday, September 19, 2015 from 11AM to 5PM. We used to start at noon, but the addition of more entertainment made us decide to add another hour for your enjoyment. The festival is held on the 900 block of Charles Street in front of the James Monroe Museum in the old town section of Fredericksburg. We close the street and have a massive Welsh block party. The Welsh Society has a website at www.welshfred.com and instructions will be posted. There will also be directional signage. The historic city of Fredericksburg is right off of Interstate 95.

AmeriCymru:  Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Bob:   If you are looking for an extended vacation there is none better than in Fredericksburg, VA. Within a ten mile radius were fought four of the largest battles of the American Civil War making this area the bloodiest in all of North America. Fredericksburg is one of only two cities in our country to experience door to door fighting (Gettysburg being the other) and you can still see the bullet holes from the battle. George Washington’s boyhood home is just across the Rappahannock River at Ferry Farm and Mount Vernon is not that far. Mary Ball Washington (the President’s mother) is buried here as well as other notables of our history. Washington, D.C. is about 45 miles away to the north while the Virginia capital of Richmond is about 50 miles in the other direction. There are Revolutionary War sites, such as the home and apothecary shop of General Mercer (killed at the Battle of Princeton and ancestor of Johnny Mercer and Colonial American historical sites as well.