Celebrating Welsh Halloween Traditions Through Art

As part of a new television programme looking into the folk traditions of Wales, members of a media production company recently visited the art department at one of Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor’s campuses, where students have been working on the old Halloween customs of Wales.

Well-known singer, actor and TV presenter Carys Eleri - who will be heading the new production – along with employees from the production company Capten Jac, visited the college’s Pwllheli campus to meet and film the students who have been working on the project with their art tutor Ffion Gwyn.

Ffion said: “Keeping alive the folk memory of old Halloween customs - or Calan Gaeaf in Welsh - is really important. Some of the stories and customs have been passed down through the generations for centuries. Art has the ability to convey these customs and stories in a visual and visceral way.

“As part of the project the students have created a large head of a Hwch Ddu Gwta, an old Welsh pig-like creature, who stalked the Welsh landscape during Calan Gaeaf looking to devour the souls of the young. These kinds of stories are great to work on alongside our students, as Halloween in essence is a festival for the younger generation.”

The programme will also include some of Wales’s leading authorities on the history and folk traditions of Wales, and will be broadcast soon on the Welsh language TV channel S4C.

For more information on any courses at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor’s Pwllheli campus, telephone 01758 701 385, email generalenquiries@gllm.ac.uk or visit the website www.gllm.ac.uk

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