City of Bayswater North of Perth Music Festival Guide
The North of Perth Music Festival is one of Perth's longest running community performing arts eisteddfods, held in association with the City of Bayswater and now in its 69th year. It is open to singers, instrumentalists, pianists, speech and drama performers, and actors of all ages, from young beginners right through to adult competitors. Whether you are a parent researching options for a child who has just started piano lessons, a drama teacher looking for a meaningful performance goal, or a teenager wanting real stage experience with expert feedback, this festival is built for exactly that purpose. This guide explains how the festival operates, what categories are available, how entry works, and why so many Perth families and teachers return year after year.
What the North of Perth Music Festival Actually Is
A performing arts eisteddfod is a structured competition festival where participants perform before qualified adjudicators, receive written and verbal feedback, and compete for prizes, medals and trophies. The North of Perth Music Festival follows this format across multiple disciplines including piano, strings, woodwind, brass, singing, speech and drama, and ensemble performance. It is not a ticketed commercial concert or a talent show. Entry is open to the community, fees apply per section entered, and all performances take place in person in the City of Bayswater area. The festival offers more than $11,000 in prizes alongside gold medallions and trophies, making it one of the more generously resourced community eisteddfods in the Perth metropolitan area. Its alumni include actors and performers who have gone on to notable careers, among them Heath Ledger and Lisa McCune, both of whom participated in early stages of their performing lives.
Who Can Enter and What Disciplines Are Offered
The festival welcomes participants of all ages and skill levels, from primary school children competing in their first eisteddfod to adult performers with years of experience. Disciplines typically covered include solo piano, piano duet, strings, woodwind, brass, classical and contemporary singing, choral groups, speech, dramatic monologue, prose and poetry reading, and ensemble performance. Age categories and grade levels are set out in the syllabus so participants compete against peers of similar age or technical standard, rather than being put up against advanced seniors when they are just starting out. Schools, private music studios, speech and drama schools, and individual families all enter participants each year. There is no requirement to be enrolled at a particular school or affiliated with a particular teacher. If you want a closer look at specific sections and how the entry process works, the article on North of Perth Music Festival competitions, entry and what to expect covers the practical detail in full.
The City of Bayswater Connection and Why Location Matters
The festival runs in association with the City of Bayswater, which places it firmly in Perth's inner northern suburbs. All auditions and performances are held in person at venues within or near the Bayswater local government area, which means participants need to be based in or able to travel to the greater Perth metropolitan area. For families in suburbs such as Morley, Noranda, Bassendean, Embleton, Bedford, Dianella, Maylands and surrounding areas, the festival is genuinely local. For families travelling from further north or south across the metro area, the venues are accessible via the Midland or Joondalup train lines and major arterial roads. The City of Bayswater's involvement brings community infrastructure support and helps keep the festival grounded in its origins as a local cultural institution rather than a commercial event.
Auditions in September, Winners Concerts in October
The festival calendar runs across two key phases each year. Auditions, meaning the competitive performance sessions where participants appear before adjudicators and receive feedback, are held through September. These sessions are scheduled by discipline and age group, and participants are notified of their session time after entries close. The Winners Concerts in October bring together the highest scoring competitors from the audition rounds for a celebratory public performance. Being selected for a Winners Concert is a genuine achievement and gives participants a polished concert stage experience in front of a supportive audience. For many young performers, the Winners Concert is the highlight of their year and a significant confidence builder. Teachers often use the festival calendar to set a September performance goal at the start of the year, giving students a concrete target to work toward across their lessons.
What Participants Gain Beyond the Prize Money
Prizes, medals and trophies are real motivators, but experienced teachers will tell you that the adjudicator feedback is often the most valuable part of entering an eisteddfod. At the North of Perth Music Festival, each participant receives written comments from a qualified adjudicator who assesses technical accuracy, musicality, presentation, and interpretation. For piano and instrumental students this means an independent expert opinion outside their regular teacher's view. For singing and drama students it means feedback on voice, projection, diction and stage presence from someone with professional assessment credentials. This kind of structured external feedback is difficult to replicate in a weekly lesson. Participants also gain experience managing performance nerves in a real competitive setting, which is a skill that serves them well in school examinations, AMEB practical exams, auditions, and general public speaking throughout life.
Information for Teachers, Music Studios and Schools
Teachers and school coordinators are the backbone of any eisteddfod. Many Perth music studios, speech and drama schools, and school performing arts departments enter groups of students together each year, using the festival as a shared performance milestone. If you are a teacher or coordinator, the festival syllabus sets out all available sections, repertoire requirements, time limits, and accompaniment arrangements so you can plan student entries well in advance. Group and ensemble categories allow studio cohorts to perform together, which adds a social and collaborative dimension beyond the solo competition. Schools can coordinate bulk entries for students across year groups. The festival team can advise on categories best suited to beginner, intermediate, and advanced students. Introducing students to the North of Perth Music Festival's performing arts competition program early in their studies gives them a regular, low-stakes performance goal that builds toward longer term confidence and technical growth.
A Heritage of 69 Years and Notable Alumni
Longevity matters in a community festival. An eisteddfod that has run for more than 69 years has refined its processes, built a trusted adjudicator network, and established relationships with schools and studios across the metro area. Parents entering a child today are, in many cases, entering an event their own parents or teachers participated in. Heath Ledger and Lisa McCune are among the most widely known former participants, both going on to significant careers in film and theatre respectively. Their participation is not used here as a marketing guarantee of future stardom but as evidence that the festival has been a genuine part of Perth's performing arts pathway for generations. For many participants the festival is simply about community, growth, and the joy of performing. For others it is an early step toward a deeper involvement in music, theatre or public performance. Both are equally valid reasons to enter.
How to Get Started Before Entries Close
The most important practical step is to download the current year's syllabus from the festival website, identify the sections that suit your child's instrument, voice type, age group or drama style, and check the entry deadline. Entries typically open several months before the September audition period, so waiting until August usually means missing the window. Choose repertoire that meets the section requirements early enough to give your teacher or your child time to prepare thoroughly. If you are entering as a private student without a teacher, the syllabus will specify accompaniment requirements and whether backing tracks are permitted. Festival volunteers and committee members are generally available to answer questions about which section fits a particular student. Entering even one section in a first year is enough to get a feel for the format, receive valuable feedback, and decide how much of the program to embrace in future years.