It may have been plagued by some unreasonably bad weather that forced some performers to miss out on the glory of receiving their awards directly, but the Wellington Eisteddfod was still very well received, the president has said.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Eisteddfod finished on August 15 with the vocal and instrumental section.
Adjudicator, international performer and former Wellington resident, Damien Whiteley put on a show for those in attendance singing 'Old Man River' on the grand piano, which Eisteddfod president Bob Collier said was a surprise for everyone.
"Overall the Eisteddfod went very well. It was very well received from people out of town. We had about 7000 people go through the doors, including the entrants," he said.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
More than 500 volunteers gave their time over the three weeks that the Eisteddfod ran and Mr Collier said without them the event wouldn't happen.
Families came far and wide to attend the 43rd annual event, with some travelling as far as Queensland.
"To have people come from interstate... to join in the Eisteddfod that's a real thrill," Mr Collier explained.
More than 2800 creative youngsters from Wellington, Sydney, Bathurst, Cowra, Gilgandra, Dubbo, Orange, Narromine and Geurie entered this year.
While entrant numbers did drop slightly for 2019, the Wellington Eisteddfod president said overall it was comparable to Dubbo and Orange.
While the Eisteddfod may have only just finished, the committee have already got big plans for the 2020 event, with the introduction of workshops to help train people who are interested in volunteering their time to help.
"There are the same people doing the same jobs year in and year out and they're getting a bit tired... we really need to train up other people to get involved and learn the ropes of what to do to help the Eisteddfod," Mr Collier said.
He congratulated and thanked the committee and volunteers that helped, adding that the Eisteddfod "really is a community effort."
Mr Collier gave a special mention to Colin Rouse who is manager the Wellington Civic Centre, saying he went above and beyond his normal duties and was a great assistance to the committee.