Bathurst residents Viv and Avril Llewellyn celebrate St. David's Day

This year, a group of around 70 people with connections to Wales came together to celebrate their heritage at the Majellan Bowling Club.

While the international day of Wales is on March 1, the event was held on Friday, March 3, with Mr and Mrs Llewellyn expecting an end-of-week event to suit more people.

From Welsh food, to music and even a few costumes, all guests immersed themselves in the festivities and enjoyed the evening.

"It was really good, we had the whole place to ourselves, it was lovely," Mr Llewellyn said.

"We had people from Sydney, Lithgow, local folks and two young guys straight from Wales. So it was lovely, we had a wonderful Welsh contingent."

Following dinner, Mr Llewellyn gave a speech outlining the history of Wales and St. David.

This was followed by a harp recital by musician Bethany Carter-Sherlock - with the harp considered to be the country's national instrument.

"Bethany was absolutely magnificent on the harp," Mr Llewellyn said.

"She did an absolutely wonderful harp recital."

Before the traditional Welsh desserts were served, the group made a toast to St. David and then sang the Welsh National Anthem to mark the end of the formal proceedings.

The evening then continued with guests mingling and sharing stories about their connection to Wales.

Mr Llewellyn was also very pleased when you young Welshmen turned up, who were enjoying a gap year travelling Australia.

"There were two young fellas over here from Cardiganshire and they are travelling, they just travelled up and down the east coast and they were staying with Terry James [a Bathurst Welshman] because he is also from Cardiganshire," Mr Llewellyn said.

After seeing such a significant increase in numbers from last year's flag raising ceremony, Mr Llewellyn is looking at hosting a St. David's Day celebration annually.

He hopes to meet more Welshmen and women living in the Bathurst region and see the numbers at the annual celebration of Wales continue to grow.

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