Holywell Cadi Ha hailed a big success

May 3 2012 by Kathryn Quayle, Flintshire Chronicle

HUNDREDS of people lined the streets of Holywell and Caerwys to watch the 15th annual Gwyl Cadi Ha festival.

The traditional Welsh folk festival saw dozens of schoolchildren and adults sing and dance their way through the towns on Saturday.

Organiser Chris Bailey said he was delighted performers managed to dodge the bad weather.

He said: “We wanted one nice day and we got it. We were very lucky as it had rained all week and on Sunday it belted down. We seem to have good weather every year.”

One of the Cadi Ha’s main attractions, a male dance where men wear white clothing and traditionally have their faces blacked, comes from the coal mining areas of west Flintshire, such as Holywell, Bagillt and Mostyn.

There were performances from local primary school children as well as adult dance groups from across Wales.

The group began their performances in Holywell just after 10am and spent the morning there, before moving on to Caerwys in the afternoon.

Mr Bailey added: “People seemed to really enjoy the day. We had a huge crowd in Holywell and there were more people than I expected in Caerwys. I think this was helped by the Real Ale Trail. A lot of people who were in The Royal Oak came out to watch the dancers in the square.

“It was a great day and we are hoping our run of good weather continues next year.”