Capsule History   

Sydney Eisteddfod rose from the gloom of the Great Depression.  It grew from an idea formed in 1932, when in the wake of the Harbour Bridge opening, opinion-makers lamenting the city’s lack of culture pointed out that unless those in power took immediate steps to cultivate a more sophisticated image for the city, Sydney would remain a cultural backwater forever. The City of Sydney Organising Committee in consultation with the local musical community, devised plans for a great eisteddfod as a ploy to enhance Sydney’s reputation as a music centre.

The City of Sydney Eisteddfod opened to great acclaim on 19 August 1933, sparking the beginning of a cultural renaissance. Over the last eight decades, the structure, name and management of the competition has undergone a number of changes.   The City of Sydney Organising Committee disbanded in 1950, and the City of Sydney Eisteddfod became an autonomous body, registered as Company Limited by Guarantee) with the City Council and State Government as principal benefactors.  The City of Sydney Cultural Council formed in 1975 to embrace a wider range of activities, incorporating the Eisteddfod, while still remaining a community based and funded organisation.

When the State withdrew its annual grant in 1987, the festival floundered on the brink of ruin, but a saviour emerged in Emeritus Professor Alfred Pollard AO of Macquarie University.  Not wanting to see the demise of such a valuable cultural institution, he stayed its execution by applying a financial band-aid from his own pocket.  Then, after establishing the Sydney Eisteddfod Foundation with a $50,000 donation, he began canvassing the business community for support.  This brought results and, realising the value of the competition, McDonald’s Australia stepped in and became principal sponsor.  From 1989 until 1992, the competition ran as McDonald’s Sydney Eisteddfod. In 1993, it changed its name to the McDonald’s Performing Arts Challenge, but to tie in with its seventy-fifth anniversary celebrations in 2008, the Sydney Cultural Council reverted to the name Sydney Eisteddfod and the 2009 festival was renamed the McDonald’s Sydney Eisteddfod.

Widely regarded as the largest and most successful competitive festival of its type in the world. Sydney Eisteddfod attributes its longevity to fact that it constantly reinvents itself to keep pace with the times. Running from June to September, it draws around 30,000 participants annually from all over Australia, New Zealand and beyond with a program that includes almost 400 classical and contemporary events for singers, dancers, musicians and actors, dance groups, bands, choirs and orchestras.

Since beginning in 1933, the Sydney Eisteddfod platform has served as a launching pad for so many great Australian artists that it has not only created a galaxy stars, but also contributed a wealth of cultural capital to the Australian nation.  The late Dame Joan Sutherland, who served as one of its artistic patrons until her death in October 2010, never forgot that her rise to fame began with her win in the Sun Aria[1] and numerous other internationally acclaimed celebrities, including Maestro Richard Bonynge AO CBE, pianist Roger Woodward, tenor Stuart Skelton and Steven McRae, principal of The Royal Ballet and widely regarded as one of the finest male dancers in the world, recall the competition with similar loyalty.

On 20 September 2011, Sydney Eisteddfod received the City of Sydney Business Award for Cultural and Creative Services in recognition for contribution to the performing arts and now with this endorsement of excellence further enhancing its value, it is preparing for its 80^th Anniversary in 2013.  For more information on Sydney Eisteddfod’s history, you can purchase The Sydney Eisteddfod story: 1933-1941 by Dr. Jennie Rowley Lees by clicking here.

[1] Renamed McDonald’s Operatic Aria in 1989.