A piece of jewellery inspired by the red kite and a special drink influenced by one of the region’s most famous poets are two of the unique gifts and merchandise created to raise funds and awareness about the National Eisteddfod’s visit to Ceredigion in 2020.

Trafferth mewn Tafarn is one of 14th century poet Dafydd ap Gwilym’s most iconic poems, and the title is now becoming relevant and famous again as the name of a brand new gin which has been distilled and bottled by the Trefeurig appeal committee, in aid of next year’s festival.

Sara Gibson said: “We were discussing how to raise money for the Eisteddfod, and we were obviously aware of the links with Dafydd ap Gwilym so we thought how we could build on this link. 

“His most famous poem is Trafferth mewn Tafarn, and we started discussing how we could create our own drink.

“We looked at which relevant plants grew locally so we could create a unique drink, and then the work of distilling and bottling 400 bottles of the Trafferth mewn Tafarn gin began. We’ve taken so many preorders already that we may well have to create another batch.”

The 2020 Eisteddfod will be held in Tregaron, and one of the region’s well-known businesses is jeweller, Rhiannon Evans.

She has got involved in the preparations for the festival by creating a beautiful piece of jewellery reflecting the red kite, which is one of the area’s most famous natural symbols. 

She said: “Nowadays, the red kite is seen across Ceredigion and people flock to the area to see this beautiful bird. With the Eisteddfod being held locally next year, I decided to create a piece of jewellery depicting this beautiful bird, which can be used as a necklace or brooch.” 

Merchandise and gifts will be available from the National Eisteddfod website soon at www.eisteddfod.wales

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now