Schools Spectacular

Schools Spectacular
The Australian flag can be seen on the arena the 2005 Schools Spectacular
Genre	Music performance
Frequency	annual
Location(s)	Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney (2016-present) Sydney Entertainment Centre (1984-2015)
Inaugurated	1984
Most recent	2016
Previous event	23 and 24 November
Next event	29 and 30 November
Participants	5,500
Attendance	10,000
Website
www.schoolsspectacular.com.au

The Schools Spectacular is an Australian variety show featuring more than 3,000 students from across New South Wales and was performed annually at the Sydney Entertainment Centre until 2015, and at the Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park since 2016. Highlights of the Schools Spectacular are broadcast each year by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and in 2016 by the Seven Network.

The actual performance is made up of many different pieces. A typical piece would have a spotlighted soloist singing on an elevated platform in the arena, surrounded by many dancers and actors. On the stage, the orchestra would be playing the instrumental part of the song while the choirs behind and next to the orchestra would be singing the chorus of the song.

The first Schools Spectacular was Schools Spectacular 1983 and was intended to be a sound test for the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Since then, the Schools Spectacular has evolved significantly. The 2012 event included 3,600 students and 600 teachers from 400 schools in four performances viewed by 30,000 people. Schools Spectacular 2016 broke the Guinness World Record for "Largest Amateur Variety Act", with 5,500 performers.

Schools Spectacular is broadcast as a telecast with the highlights by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), by the Seven Network in 2016, and as a first, webcast through the Internet onto their website, with the help and sponsorship by Cisco Systems. The Schools Spectacular is produced by 'The Arts Unit' of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training.