MGGA
History
Beginning in the 1850s, a large number of immigrants from Wales settled in the south central Minnesota areas of Mankato/Lake Crystal/Cambria/Le Sueur/Ottawa. They brought with them a very strong tradition of Welsh music. This tradition has been continued by descendants of those immigrants and others who are not of Welsh descent.
In the 1920s an organization called the Minnesota Gymanfa Ganu Association (MGGA) was formed and it established an annual Gymanfa Ganu (Welsh Hymn Festival) to be held each September.
In 1997 the organization incorporated in Minnesota.
In 2007 its application to the United States Internal Revenue Service was approved and it is now an official 501-c-3 non-profit, non-political corporation, whose mission is to preserve, develop and promote Welsh religious and cultural heritage in Minnesota.