LOCALS wanting to show off their skills in music, dance, speech, or drama have one week left to enter the Hamilton Eisteddfod, a month-long performance showcase in June.

After two years of false starts, the 58th Hamilton Eisteddfod is set to start with a week of music on June 6, followed by a week of dance starting June 13, and ending with a day of drama and speech on June 20.

Eisteddfod committee president, Leeanne Barber said it was “very exciting” to be holding the eisteddfod again after two years of false starts.

“We look forward to putting on an event for the whole community that is entertaining and affordable,” she said.

“We’ve been stuck on our 58th eisteddfod for a little while.

“It would have been in 2020 but it was cancelled, and in 2021 we had micro events all planned and ready to go but we got stuck on another lockdown.”

Despite the setbacks resulting from COVID-19, Ms Barber said it was “onwards and upwards” for the eisteddfod, which was fortunate enough to have talented adjudicators for each performance category.

“The dance adjudicator is Mr Brian Nolan from Melbourne who has been here before, he is an ex-Australian Ballet dancer and important teacher in Melbourne,” she said.

“The music adjudicator is Kenji Fujimura who is a prominent classic pianist and examiner, and the adjudicator for drama and speech is Louise Le Nay, a NIDA (National Institute for Dramatic Art) graduate who lives in Hamilton.”

The Hamilton Eisteddfod will be held at the Hamilton Performing Arts Centre (HPAC) again this year, with Ms Barber saying the facilities offered everything needed for the event.

“Everything will be held at HPAC which we love,” she said.

“We’ve got terrific support from our sponsors to run our event and a terrific band of volunteers.

The eisteddfod not only brings entertainment to Hamilton through the array of performances on offer, but also boosts the local economy by attracting more people to visit the town.

“It brings in a lot of extra business into Hamilton with people buying accommodation, food, and fuel,” Ms Barber said.

“Particularly for dance, people travel widely to compete in dance competitions - dancers often travel between Adelaide and Melbourne.”

Ms Barber said the committee was also “very sorry” to hear that former HPAC manager, Melissa Forlano had resigned.   

Entries for the 58th Hamilton Eisteddfod close on April 7 and more information regarding entries and volunteering can be found at hamiltoneisteddfod.org.au.