Royal South Street Eisteddfod

In 1891, the first Royal South Street Society competitions were held and paved the way for future performers around the country to find their vocation and feet on stages both at home and abroad. Now Australia’s oldest and longest running eisteddfod, it has seen over one million aspiring singers, dancers, orators, writers, musicians and composers pass through its doors. As the Eisteddfod grows, it continues to be one of Ballarat’s major draw cards and contributes over $14 million a year to the local economy through the generous support of the Ballarat community, our sponsors and our 240 volunteers.

The Competitions, which run from July to October, offer 12 different theatrical disciplines to young performers including speech and drama, singing, music, dance and calisthenics.

The Society was granted “Royal” status in 1962 for services to the community and was recently honoured with five community service awards.

The Royal South Street Society is a not-for-profit organisation and is reliant on a small team of office staff, nine Board members and 240 volunteers to organise the annual event. The entry and admission fees only cover 50% of production costs. We are extremely grateful for the additional funding that comes from our generous sponsors.

From humble beginnings in 1879 as an informal debating group, the Royal South Street Society has grown to become the largest performing arts competition in Australia.

The Young Men’s General Debating Society was initiated by eight scholars of the Central State Night School, with the intention of ‘refining manners, cultivating the mind and stimulating the intellect.’ They met on a weekly basis in a cottage belonging to the mother of their first president, William D. Hill, at 31 South Street, Ballarat. The Society quickly grew in popularity, and by the early 1880s, a number of similar groups had also been established.

In 1882, these individual societies formed a collective body called the Ballarat and District Mutual Improvement Associations Union. The Union held its first annual competition on 30 March 1883, at the Alfred Hall in Grenville Street North. The program included music, elocution, essays, poetry and debates. Prizes included gold and silver medals, certificates and money amounting to £30 (close to $4,000 in today’s currency).

Although the Union collapsed in 1889, there was still enough interest from the local community to conduct further performance-based competitions. The inaugural Grand Annual Eisteddfod of Australasia was held in the Society’s new Skipton Street Hall on 16 June 1891. Over ten days, 260 entrants competed for prizes totalling £63 (worth almost $8,000 today). The presentation ceremony was chaired by Ballarat’s Mayor Shoppee, and Victorian Governor Lord Hopetoun awarded the prizes.

The Honourable Alfred Deakin gave a speech in which he congratulated the Society on their progress and expressed ‘the desirability of making their efforts the basis for still greater things.’

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Wikipedia