Not to be confused with the historical Ballarat Welsh Eisteddfods. The Royal South Street Eisteddfod, also known as The Grand National Eisteddfod of

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

, is held annually in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and is administered by the Royal South Street Society. South Street began as a debating competition run by the

South Street Society The South Street Society was an organisation based in Ballarat, Victoria, which conducted a series of performing arts contests and concerts originally styled the "South Street Competitions", which developed into the "Grand National Eisteddfod", l ...

in 1891 and attained "Royal" status in 1962. It soon grew and now includes public speaking, acting, singing, music, dance and calisthenics.2009 Annual Report, Royal South Street Society 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 The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 107,325. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is primarily urban with the v ...

in 1987 to enable government funding for major upgrades, restorations and maintenance work. There were virtual competitions since 2020, but will return live in 2022.

Competitors

Notable competitors past eisteddfods include: * James Scullin *

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...

* Mary Grant Bruce * Amy Castles * Joan Kirner * Denise Drysdale *

David Atkins David Atkins, OAM (born 12 December 1955) is an Australian dancer, choreographer, music-theatre director and producer. Career Stage and television Atkins began his performance career aged 12 with a role in the musical ''Mame''. As an adult p ...

Kiri Te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa , (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a retired New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". Te ...

References

External links

Royal South Street Society
Ballarat Eisteddfod Festivals in Victoria (Australia) {{festival-stub