78th City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod Part Two at The Empire | photos
Thousands of performers will take to the stage of The Empire Theatre for the second instalment of the City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod for 2024. See the photos here.
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A koala, a puppet and at least one pair of magic shoes could be found in the foyer of The Armitage Centre as the speech and drama sections got underway at The Empire on Monday morning.
First time performer Emily O’Brien looked the part for her recital of poems The Puppet and Magic Shoes.
The Toowoomba Anglican School year 2 student was most excited about the makeup used to bring her dancing puppet character to life. She said she was a little bit nervous but also a little bit not nervous as her mum, Louisa Crowther, encouraged her to think about the nervous energy as being excitement in disguise.
Ms Crowther said her daughter didn’t exactly relish being the centre of attention but she had being doing a lot of practice and participation in the eisteddfod was a great way to increase confidence.
“The eisteddfod is a good chance to practice being confident, performing on stage in front of other people,” Ms Crowther said.
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The Glennie student loves playing her double bass
The second instalment of the 78th City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod is taking over The Empire precinct as performers test their skills.
The Glennie School student Adelaide Graham is one contestant.
Having played an instrument since year 3, moving from violin and cello as the need for instruments within the school orchestra changed, she is now loving playing the double bass.
“It’s just so versatile and big and it’s really fun,” she said.
Adelaide also noted that due to the physical size of her chosen instrument and the difficulty of transportation she doesn’t have to take it home to practice all the time and she enjoys the humorous quips that come from older students and teachers.
“Most of the time it’s jokes about how many people I can fit in its case. And that people are going to hide in there if we play hide and seek,” she said.
Previously a competitor in the orchestral section of the eisteddfod, Friday would be her first time playing solo in competition, but she wasn’t fazed by the pressure.
“It’s fun to just come out and see what other people can do and have fun competing for my school,” she said.
Almost 4000 contestants will be involved including large orchestral groups and more than 50 different dance groups travelling for the increasingly popular dance sections next weekend.
“It gives every competitor a chance to be involved in arts in whatever expression that they use,” eisteddfod president Janine Kanowski said.
The eisteddfod concludes on Sunday, August 4 with dance sections.
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Originally published as 78th City of Toowoomba Eisteddfod Part Two at The Empire | photos
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