This year the competition has enjoyed record entries and while a percentage have been received from places outside Orange in the central west and a few from the ACT, the majority have come from here.

Many of the competitors learn in a private environment from dedicated music and dance teachers.

However, a huge number of school-age participants have been taught in the learning environment of their school, and this competition is testament to the diverse range of opportunities that exist in the fertile environment of Orange where the arts are fostered in schools and in the private sector.

No longer is school simply for teaching the three Rs.

It is a place where children are provided with opportunities their grandparents and great-grandparents could never have imagined and their experiences of being nurtured for their public performance will remain with them forever.

The dedicated teachers who give up their lunch hours and before and after school time are to be congratulated for their passion in allowing their students to be exposed to the arts in music, speech and drama and dance.

This final week of competition has also coincided with the 2013 Orange Youth Arts Festival, which showcases the talents of artistic young people in yet another area of the arts.

And in a final word of congratulations, the volunteers of the City of Orange Eisteddfod should also be applauded for their magnificent effort at the venues, organising children, pencilling for adjudicators, stage managing, writing certificates, co-ordinating entries and the many other tasks that go along with the eisteddfod.

Although you don’t appear on stage you deserve a hearty round of applause.

On Monday we will be publishing our photo gallery from the 2014 City of Orange Eisteddfod.