For the past two years, visitors to Heritage Square in Samaria, Idaho, experienced Welsh Christmas and New Years traditions. Local volunteers guided visitors through historic cabins that each featured a unique Welsh tradition.
At the first cabin, visitors were taught about and created a Calennig. A Calennig is an apple balanced on three sticks to create a tripod and decorated with cloves, nuts, and evergreen branches. Once decorated, the apple is taken from house to house, and, like trick or treating, gifts and songs are exchanged with neighbors. The apple symbolizes good luck for the coming New Year.
Another activity was confronting the Mari Lwyd, an animal skull mounted on a pole held by someone covered in a white sheet. In Wales, the Mari Lwyd and their group go door to door and challenge residents to sing more carols than them. If the Mari Lwyd wins, they and their party go inside for drinks and food; if they lose, they must go to the next house. At Heritage Square, guests were confronted by a Mari Lwyd and had to sing a carol to go on to the next cabin.
Once the Mari Lwyd is defeated, visitors continued on to watch a historic video about Welsh Christmas customs, eat homemade taffy, and listen to Welsh poems and folktales told by local residents. After exploring all the cabins, visitors drank hot chocolate around a firepit and sang carols. A major focus of the event was the importance of music to the Welsh people.
Unfortunately, Welsh Christmas is not being held this year because Heritage Square is preparing to take center stage for the annual Malad Valley Welsh Festival. The festival is traditionally held in Malad during June, but in 2026, it will be held in Samaria during September. You can visit welshfestival.com for more information.
Even though Welsh Christmas isn’t happening this year, all that were able to attend experienced the love and pride the residents of Samaria and Malad have for Welsh culture.
Story and photos by Emma George, the Heritage and Folk Art Coordinator for the Bear River Heritage Area, a program of the Bear River Association of Governments.