Laa Tinvaal

A happy Tynwald Day to you! It's the Isle of Man's national day today, which is celebrated on the island with the convening of parliament outdoors:

Tynwald is the world's oldest continuous parliament. Its President Clare Christian will preside over the event. 

The historic day was first codified by the Manx parliament on the hill in 1417. New laws are promulgated in both English and Gaelic. 

The ceremony is due to begin at about 10:30 (BST) when the island's Lieutenant Governor, Adam Wood arrives in St John's. 

Entertainments including folk stories, ceilidh and circus workshops are being run in the field behind the Tynwald ceremony.

So says the Beeb.

The BBC's photo gallery from the day's events are worth looking at, if only for the picture of the Vikings! If you're interested in hearing what Manx sounds like spoken, there's a video report about the Manx language school on the island (very weird to hear a Gaelic language spoken with such an English accent!)

Laa Tinvaal

A happy Laa Tinvaal to you all: It's Tynwald Day on the Isle of Man today, and for me it heralds the close of the Midsummer festivities. As last year, the BBC are live-streaming the celebrations, which sees a great procession to the church of St John the Baptist, where a service is held, and parliament is held in the open air, where the laws enacted by Manx parliament in the previous year are read out in both Manx and English.

According to the Beeb the celebrations this year include a focus on Manx history and culture for young people:

National Day celebrations in the Isle of Man will focus on giving youngsters the chance to learn something new, the president of Tynwald has said. 

Clare Christian said Tynwald Day activities included music sessions and circus workshops in acrobatics and tightrope walking. 

Local artists will also run a series of classes on Manx music and art. 

Mrs Christian said: "The emphasis is firmly on young people with exciting opportunities."

'Manx National Day Focuses on Fun'

No specific mention of language I notice; such a shame. Sadly not surprising, though.

Tynwald Day - Laa Tinvaal

Today is Tynwald Day on the Isle of Man, a national holiday that sees an open air parliament convene onTynwald Hill, next to St John's Chapel. The tradition is associated with the Midsummer celebrations, and possibly Manannán mac Lir, and goes back at least a thousand years, and is said to be the oldest parliament in continuous existence in the world. The Beeb are live-streaming the events of the day:

Here!

Come 4.30pm the video will start recapping highlights of the day, apparently, and I think you should be able to view the video wherever you are.

There's a brief description of the Tynwald Court from the 17th century here, and a nineteenth century description here. These versions might swallow up a lot of your computer if you don't have a very good internet connection, though, so be warned! Alternative options can be found here and here (pages 29-30 and 10-11 respectively).