THE Wimmera Eisteddfod made a successful return to Horsham's Town Hall at the weekend with three days of music competition and performance.
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The event returned after a one-year break during 2018 which came after the closure of its regular venue, the Wesley Performing Arts Centre.
About 200 competitors from across the state entered the eisteddfod from Friday to Sunday.
The event included three major awards.
Simon Dandy won the Alex Rathgeber Solo Champion event.
Horsham-born theatre performer Alex Rathgeber was the patron for the new vocal championship event at this year's eisteddfod.
Liam Robertson won the most promising vocal student award while Angela Rosewarne won the most promising piano student honour.
Mr Dandy said he performed three "drastically different" songs.
Mr Dandy said his performance was dedicated to his four-year-old son Fletcher, who was undergoing medical treatment in Melbourne.
"I am very humbled to get the award. My main thought was my son - that put a lot of things in perspective," he said.
Mr Dandy said a personal highlight was performing with his eight-year-old daughter Kirrily in the family section on Saturday.
"She sang for the first time live in front of so many people. I wouldn't trade that for anything," he said.
Angela's mother, Huanhuan Zhao, said the family was proud of Angela's achievements - but her win came as a surprise.
"We just came back from a one-month trip in China. When we came back, she had a two-day camp. So she didn't have time to practice," she said.
"She is a kid, but she understands the music and she follows the guidance very carefully."
Dr Zhao said Angela's elder sister, Maya, also played piano and inspired Angela to learn the instrument.
"She was six years old when she first started. We have a piano at home and sometimes when she is really happy, she sits there by herself and plays the piano," she said.
Wimmera Eisteddfod committee member Venetia Elbourne-Hobbs said the three awards were introduced at the event for the first time. Ms Elbourne-Hobbs said the event was a huge success.
"You don't have an eisteddfod without having people to participate to start with, and it was phenomenal for all the volunteers that came in," she said.
"The adjudicator from Melbourne loved the eisteddfod. They are actually going to sponsor the family section, which was a new section that we introduced this year."
Wimmera Eisteddfod committee member Maddi Ostapiw said she was overwhelmed by the performances.
"We had such strong sections. It was really unexpected to have that many people wanting to be part of this event this year," she said.
Ms Ostapiw said she had initiated the new 'Alex Rathgeber' category - which was drawn from her childhood experience as a competitor at an eisteddfod.
Performers sang for 12 minutes, across three different music genres.
"We wanted to find someone who was really passionate about supporting the art for this category - which was Alex Rathgeber. He graciously came on-board as our patron and lends his name to this award," she said.
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