Celebrate St David’s Day with these amazing Welsh feats of strength, food and fashion

This Sunday marks St David’s Day, so we’re celebrating by looking back at some record-breaking feats achieved by the amazing people of Wales!

To kick things off and to get in the Dydd Gwyl Dewi (St David’s Day) spirit, the first record we will be looking at is the Guinness World Records title for largest Welsh cake. A Welsh cake - or picau ar y maen - is a traditional round spiced fruit cake that originated from the South of Wales in the late 18th century. 

The small cakes are traditionally cooked on a bakestone or griddle until they reach a golden colour, and they are often finished off with a sprinkle of caster sugar on the top. The Welsh Cake is often associated with St David’s Day, and is a treat enjoyed by many in celebration of the day.

The average Welsh Cake measures roughly around 30 g (0.06 lb), but the record-breaking one weighed a huge 28.8 kg (63 lb 8 oz). For the cake to be cooked, a bespoke griddle was created, which weighed over 80 kg itself. The normal-size Welsh cake would often take around three minutes on each side, but this giant one took a whole eight minutes on both sides before it was finished!

The record-breaking attempt took place on 27 February 2020 in Carmarthen, UK, and had many participants to help make it a success. This large sweet-treat feat was achieved by Michelle Evans-Fecci, members of Merched y Wawr, Tan y Castell Bakery and Teify Forge (all UK), and remains a record six years on.

In an interview with Welsh Country, Paul Mear, director of Tan Y Castell Bakery, said: “This is a wonderful achievement by all. Being one of the largest Welsh cake producers, we are delighted to have been part of this opportunity… just in time for St David’s Day too!”  

Now we’re moving on to another incredible feat that took not just determination, but strength. On 14 February 2025 the Guinness World Records title for fastest time to pull a narrow-gauge steam train 20 m by a team of two (female) was broken. 

This record title was broken by married couple Sam Taylor and Sue Taylor-Franklin (both UK) at Llanberis Lake Railway in Wales. The record-breaking attempt appeared on GWR Cymru 2025, a TV show created to celebrate Wales and its talented inhabitants.

Sam and Sue successfully beat the record on their second attempt and pushed (or pulled!) through despite the difficult weather conditions. With a total time of 40.53 seconds, the deadlifting duo pulled themselves into the record books.

However, their record-breaking success does not stop there! They are also the holders of fastest 20 m A320 aircraft pull by a team of two (female) which they completed on 28 February 2021 in an amazing time of 37.63 seconds.

On 28 May 2023, the couple attended the UK’s Strongest Man event in Nottingham, with the plan to attempt another record for heaviest deadlift by a team of two (female). Unfortunately, on the day Sue was injured so couldn’t compete, but after roping in friend Izzy Tait (UK), the record attempt was still on.

Despite never having lifted together, Izzy and Sam managed to lift 452.5 kg (997.59 lb), which is roughly equivalent to a small car.

Sam was also involved in another record fastest time to pull a lorry/truck 20 m by a team (female). The team was made up of Sam, Nicola Walters, Lisa Marie Hassall and Beth Grice (all UK), and took place in Barry, Wales on 7 October 2023. 

The powerful team of four managed to pull the lorry in just 20 second, and it weighed 20,240 kg which would be a similar weight to that of three African elephants! This amazing feat appeared in the Guinness World Records Cymru project that aired in 2024.

Read about more amazing feats of strength in our Sports and Fitness section.

People of all ages are eager to fly the flag for Wales, and even children love getting involved! On 28 February 2020, 287 participants came together to attempt the Guinness World Records title for largest Welsh folk dance.

The attempt was achieved by Pennard Primary School (UK) in Swansea, UK for St David’s Day celebrations. Many children from the school got involved, and they managed to recruit people from the wider community too.

The GWR guidelines stated that all dancers must be well rehearsed before the attempt, and in this video, you can see children, teachers, and members of the community practising for the big day.

So, they rehearsed and wished each other pob lwc (good luck) before successfully dancing their way into Guinness World Records history!

Last but certainly not least is Marmalade (UK), who broke the record for most flowers on a dress. On 21 February 2025 as part of GWR Cymru 2025, Marmalade used 1,862 fresh daffodils to decorate her dress.

The daffodil is the national flower of Wales and is traditionally worn on St David’s Day each year. And this was no easy feat! RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star Marmalade used real daffodils so naturally had to try and add them on the dress quickly to ensure they were at their peak bloom at the time of the record attempt.

See her modelling her stunning creation in the video below.

Marmalade explained that she had to keep the flowers quite moist to ensure they didn’t wilt while on the dress. The GWR guidelines stated that over 750 flowers would have to be used on the dress to successfully be a world record, and with over double that, Marmalade slayed the challenge!

There we have it! We love celebrating the amazing people of Wales and the incredible things they get up to. We hope that you have a great St David’s Day wherever you are. Iechyd da! (Good health).