LAUNCESTON Town Council has agreed to formally renew its invitation to Gorsedh Kernow for Launceston to be the host town next year.

At a meeting of the town council last Friday, Cllr Rob Tremain, who is also a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh, said the annual Gorsedh ceremony was held in Launceston in 2003 for the first time in around 30-years, and described the ceremony 13 years ago as a ‘great success’.

He added: “As I attend the Gorsedh each year some of the older Bards go ‘we still remember Lanson boy, didn’t we have a good time’?”

He said the ceremony is held on the first Saturday in September — this year it will be at St Keverne.

Cllr Tremain added that in 2009, the town council agreed to invite the Gorsedh to return to Launceston in 2017 — being the centenary of the birth of Charles Causley — and asked the council to agree to formally renew that invitation.

Mayor Cllr Brian Hogan said: “It’s very nice to think the Gorsedh is going to come — I think that’s incredible.”

Gorsedh Kernow exists to maintain and give expression to the national spirit of Cornwall as a Celtic country and in particular, to foster good relations between Cornwall and other Celtic countries, to promote co-operation and goodwill between those who work for the honour of Cornwall, to encourage study and use of the Cornish language, to encourage the study of Cornish history, literature, art, music, sport and related subjects.

Bards are elected by the Gorsedh Council and the honour of Bardship is awarded to people who have given exceptional service to Cornwall by a manifestation of the Celtic spirit or by service to Cornwall.