The 16th World Scout Jamboree was held 30 December 1987 to 7 January 1988, the first

World Scout Jamboree The World Scout Jamboree is a Scouting jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17. The first World Scout Jamboree was organized by T ...

held in the Southern Hemisphere, and the first to change the date from the traditional August to January to coincide with summer. The Jamboree was hosted by Australia at

Cataract Scout Park Scouting started in New South Wales, a State of Australia, in 1908. In the early years, local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently and several separate associations began operating including the Chums Scout Patrols, League of Boy S ...

a specially constructed Scout

tent city A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable ten ...

situated on a 160-hectare site at

Appin, New South Wales Appin is a town in the Macarthur Region on Tharawal country near its boundary with Gandangara country, New South Wales, Australia in Wollondilly Shire. It is situated about south of Campbelltown and north west of Wollongong. History Early ...

, near

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. 14,434 Scouts from 84 countries attended the Jamboree, with around 13,000 more in attendance on "Visiting Day". The theme was ''Bringing the World Together''. The course of

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

passed during the Jamboree, and the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the Jamboree, at

midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

on 31 December 1987, was the first official event of

Australia's Bicentenary The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. History The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...

. Highlights included the Challenge Valley obstacle course, and the Great Aussie Surf Carnival, for which all Scouts were shuttled in over 50 buses to Thirroul Beach. The United Kingdom contingent included

Betty Clay Betty St Clair Clay ( née Baden-Powell; 16 April 1917 – 24 April 2004) was the younger daughter of Olave Baden-Powell, the first Chief Guide and Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. She was the sister of P ...

, daughter of the founder of Scouting, and eleven members of the

Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...

family, nine of whom were direct descendants of

Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, foun ...

. In addition 18 Ranger Guides attended, the first time members of the Guide Association were allowed to take part in a World Jamboree.

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20080322083903/http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/history/inter/jambo.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20081207021528/http://www.scout.org/wsrc/fs/jamboree_e.shtml #1987-1988 Scouting and Guiding in Australia 1987 in Australia 1988 in Australia 1980s in Sydney December 1987 events in Australia January 1988 events in Australia {{scout-stub

See also

References