It is that time of the year that parents are busily running their children around for Eisteddfod rehearsals and performances, the tradition that brings together local dancers, singers, and speakers from Australia’s various towns.
These days, the planning and coordinating of such events are taken for granted, but, as one researcher from Taree, a city in northern New South Wales, found, staging early eisteddfods was an imaginative feat in itself.
Heritage site MidCoast Stories co-founder Penny Teerman says that in the early part of the 20th century, music festivals were trendy, with a similar event held in Taree in 1912. Ms Teerman noted that following the original festival’s success, a Taree River Music Society was formed to host traditional music, literature and physical culture contests annually or biannually.