Dear students and parents,
I wanted to let you know about a wonderful opportunity to perform - this year's Ryde Eisteddfod. An eisteddfod is a Welsh tradition of competitive cultural festivals that celebrate the arts, including music, dance, and poetry. The Ryde Eisteddfod is a community-focused event that is beginner-friendly, so it's a great opportunity to showcase your musical talents and get some performance practice in. It is technically a competition, but I always recommend simply entering for the fun of it, to get a chance to go on stage and get some supportive feedback (the adjudicators are always lovely and very encouraging in my experience.)
There are different categories based on age and repertoire, as well as "restricted" sections reserved for those who have never won a prize in that section before, so you can be guaranteed not to be up against any serial winners.
The deadline is coming up soon, so don't miss your chance to participate. Here are the deadlines for each category:
Dance: April 17
Instrumental: April 24
Speech: April 26
Seniors (50 Plus): April 27
Vocal: April 28
Here is a link to the dates likely for performance days; https://rydeeisteddfod.org/EISTEDDFOD/attachments/article/11/Dates%20for%20Ryde%20Eisteddfod~.pdf
I am happy to guide anyone interested through the process; I can suggest appropriate sections for entry, and arrange enrolment, answer questions etc.
The entry fees range from about $8 for most of the younger sections, and up to around the $15 /$20 mark for the older sections, sometimes a little more for sections where there are cash prizes.
I hope you'll consider participating this year, or perhaps simply paying them a visit to watch and see what it's all about for future reference!
Please let me know if you'd like any help or have questions.
Cheers-
Sarah