SALEM — If you have already put out a green flag for St. Patrick's Day, take it down. If you have dusted off that silly leprechaun suit, put it away.
St. Patrick is going to have to wait his turn.
This weekend belongs to St. David, the patron saint of Wales, whose feast day is Sunday. Rhodri Morgan, the top government official in Wales, is coming to the Boston area for celebrations, one of which is being held in Salem.
"This is the first time the Welsh have ever gathered on the North Shore," said Dr. Stephen Price, a retired family doctor from Essex who grew up in Wales. "... We're coming out of the woodwork."
An event called a Gymanfa Ganu is being held tomorrow night at The First Church in Salem. It's a Welsh term for a festival of sacred hymns, and it promises to be nothing like anything you've heard before.
The performers — and that could include anybody who walks through the door — sit in sections, or "parts," according to their voices. There are separate seating areas for sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. It's a tradition that goes back a long way.
One person — one brave soul — is the conductor and given the task of turning this disparate group, some of whom have never met before, into a choir. The job tomorrow night has been given to Danvers attorney Meirwyn Walters, who grew up speaking Welsh in his home.
"He's probably the best Gymanfa Ganu director in the U.S., and we're really fortunate to have him right in the area," said Pastor Phil Wyman of Salem, who was hired by the Welsh government to help organize the Wales Week celebrations.
The hymn sing is more dress rehearsal than finished concert, as the conductor works and reworks a song until all of the voices in the room become one.
"The congregation will be trained to sing in the Welsh style," Price said. "They will not sing (a hymn) once. They will sing it until it reaches a zenith, reaches a peak."
In addition to singing, there will be performances, including one by Price's wife, Stella, another Welsh native.
"Stella is going to perform a story about tin baths in Wales," Dr. Price said. "When we were brought up in Wales, miners would come home black as soot and take a tin bath" in front of the fire.
There are other Wales Week events in the Boston area. Many are gathering this afternoon to watch Wales play France in rugby, the national game. There's a polar plunge at Revere Beach at 1 p.m. Sunday that is being billed as "Dunkin' Like David."
Although little is known about St. David, Wyman chose the 'Dunkin' Like David' title because "a number of Celtic saints would stand in the river and pray."
On Sunday, the crowd is headed to the House of Blues in Boston to hear Tom Jones, a living legend from Wales.
If nothing else, the local Welsh hope to carve out a little identity this weekend and end the confusion over their "funny" accents.
"I think one of the things that annoys me most is when people meet me, they say, 'Oh, you're Scottish,' or 'you're Irish,' or 'you're English,'" said the Rev. Kevin Adams of Ipswich, a Lynn pastor who came over a few years ago. "Very few people know about Wales."
Price has tried to solve the confusion. "They always say 'You're Irish,'" he said. "I say, 'No, the Irish were the Welsh who could swim."
The Welsh, it turns out, are the bearers of bad news for the Irish. St. Patrick — brace yourself — is not really Irish. He was Welsh.
"Absolutely, of course he was," said Adams, laughing in triumphant glee as he spoke. "It's obvious if you think of it. What did he do? He converted the Irish. He had to come from somewhere to convert them. He came from what was then (Wales)."
Happy St. David's Day.
If you go
What: Gymanfa Ganu: The Great Welsh Hymn Sing
When: Tomorrow, 6 p.m.
Where: The First Church in Salem, 316 Essex St.
Who: The North Shore Christian Men's Choir, the Saengerfest Men's Choir, The Gathering Hymn Rockers, conductor Meirwyn Walters, Dr. Stephen and Stella Price, Paul Madore, Dr. Rose Wolf, Jodi Ainsworth.
Admission: Free
Afterward: Welsh food and poetry
Wales Watch
Famous citizens: English Prime Minister David Lloyd George, poet Dylan Thomas, actors Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and singers Tom Jones and Charlotte Church
National game: Rugby
Flag: Green and white with a red dragon
Famous film about Wales: "How Green Was My Valley"
Local link: Town of Swansea named for city in Wales
Claim to fame: Village with world's longest name: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
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