Bendigo Competitions Society Inc.

It’s our 98th year!

With preparations well underway and pre-planning complete for this year’s Eisteddfod, the Committee has also begun planning for our centenary year in 2026. We were delighted our application for a small grant was accepted to dig into the archives and produce a condensed historical snapshot of the Eisteddfod’s longstanding commitment and relevance in the Bendigo arts scene. If anyone has a skilled interest in assisting the committee to produce this keepsake or has historical photographs, we would be keen to hear from you.

We are also happy to announce the size of what was a very, very small Committee has grown this year with the addition of 8 new committee members. This however does not decrease our need for the essential support of our amazing volunteers. It does hopefully mean the Committee might be a little better rested throughout the busy competition period!

As always, we are on the hunt for volunteers to assist when the events are on and want to hear from you. Our child safety policy has been updated and we will require evidence of WWC prior to any volunteer joining us. You will also be provided with our updated volunteer guide.

For entrants: Keep those entries rolling in and your eye on Facebook for updates – See you at the comps!

The Committee has been hard at work planning the 97th Annual Eisteddfod to commence in May. It has been decided that the official launch of this year’s Eisteddfod will be held at the commencement of the first morning session. Everyone is, of course, welcome to attend.

The schedule is on the competitions website for you to view and will be updated accordingly. It is with great pleasure that we can announce we will be utilising the Capital Theatre even more this year including brass bands and contemporary vocal. The Bendigo Bank Theatre will be used for other music disciplines. We thank the Bendigo Council for their support in enabling us to use these venues to increase the performance value for each competitor and we hope to continue this relationship into the future.

Dance will again be held at Bendigo South East Secondary College in the winter school holidays. We hope to see an increase in entries across all genres as students and teachers have had a far less impacted year with COVID guidelines easing.

This said, Bendigo Competitions Society will be continuing some of the implemented strategies into the future as we feel these make for a smoother Eisteddfod for everyone involved. Any additional suggestions to make our Eisteddfod a safer and more accessible competition are always welcomed. Entries will again be through the Stardom platform and music is to be uploaded for contemporary vocal and dance.

As always, our Eisteddfod cannot run without the dedicated support of volunteers both new and old along with our valued sponsors. We were grateful to have some new sponsors on board last year and we hope to have more with us this year. We would personally like to acknowledge two new sponsors last year, GYG Kennington and Mino Dance.

If you or someone you know can support our competition, please contact us via Facebook or email prior to the launch of the Eisteddfod in May.