The Cyfarthfa200 campaign, celebrating the bicentenary of Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil, has been shortlisted for the Marketing + Communications Campaign of the Year at the Museum and Heritage Awards.
During 2025, to celebrate the park and castle’s 200th birthday, Cyfarthfa200 saw a bumper programme of fun, exciting and informative events and exhibitions, which took place to highlight the national and international importance of the Cyfarthfa site, and to celebrate the history of the people and communities that made it. Built in 1825 as a majestic family home for the Ironmaster William Crawshay II, Cyfarthfa Castle is the jewel in the crown of Merthyr Tydfil.
The Cyfarthfa200 campaign was amplified by a multi-channel marketing and engagement campaign which saw celebratory flags on lampposts around the Merthyr Tydfil, and happy birthday messages from Merthyr legends and Welsh icons including Julien Macdonald, Steve Spiers and Ruth Jones. The campaign has been shortlisted in the Marketing + Communications Campaign of the Year category at the awards, alongside organisations including the Natural History Museum and the Imperial War Museums.
Led by the Cyfarthfa Foundation and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, the Cyfarthfa200 programme was brought to life by the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery team, the Foundation, and a diverse range of local organisations and individuals across Cyfarthfa Park, the local community and the wider borough.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 12 March 2026 for the annual Museums + Heritage Awards sponsored by Altair Media Ltd. The global awards celebrate the very best in the world of museums, galleries, and cultural and heritage visitor attractions and the ceremony to reveal the winners will take place on the evening of Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Hilton Park Lane, London.
This year’s shortlist, which includes entrants from all over the United Kingdom as well as museums and other cultural organisations in 10 other countries ranging from Malta to Australia and Spain, have been chosen by an independent panel of nine judges, who are all well-known in the museum’s world. The shortlist reflects the diversity of the Museum and Heritage sector featuring organisations such as the Fitzwilliam Museum and Jane Austen’s House as well as national museums such as the Natural History Museum among the 19 categories.