Royal South Street Eisteddfod

The Royal South Street Eisteddfod is held annually in Ballarat, Australia. It is also known as The Grand National Eisteddfod of Australasia and is administered by the Royal South Street Society.

History

South Street began as a debating competition run by the South Street Society in 1891. It soon grew and now includes public speaking, acting, singing, music, dance and calisthenics.^[1]

Venues

Since 1965 it has been held in Her Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat, Australia's oldest continually operating theatre. It was purchased after the South Street Society ran an appeal. Today Her Majesty's is the main venue for the Eisteddfod, but it was gifted to the City of Ballarat in 1987 to enable government funding for major upgrades, restorations and maintenance work.

Competitors

Notable competitors past eisteddfods include:

• James Scullin
• Alfred Deakin
• Mary Grant Bruce
• Amy Castles
• Joan Kirner
• Denise Drysdale
• David Atkins
• Kiri Te Kanawa

External links

• Royal South Street Society

Notes