Sydney Olympic Park alive with the sounds of Schools Spectacular

After hundreds of hours of singing, dancing, twirling, strumming and tapping preparation, more than 5,500 students from hundreds of public schools across NSW are ready to light up the Qudos Bank Arena floor at the annual Schools Spectacular event.

Holding the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest amateur variety show, the 2024 Schools Spectacular will feature Kindergarten to Year 12 students who have travelled up to 800 kilometres to come together over four spectacular performances on November 29 and 30.

For the first time in NSW Schools Spectacular’s 41-year history, Karabar High School student Pouniu Iosa will be bringing virtual reality to the main stage. Armed with his Oculus Rift headset and special software, the Queanbeyan-based student will create a real-time, 3D virtual reality futuristic art in front of 26,000 audience member’s eyes in the show segment titled “future focused”.

2024 Tamworth Country Music Festival Toyota Best of the Buskers champions Robbi Morgan from Asquith High School and Ben Gillard from Kooringal High School will be entertaining audiences with the Noah Kahan Country music hit, Northern Attitude. The real-life best friends who met at Schools Spectacular are headed back in January as guests in 2025.

Miller Technology High School student, Iraqi refugee and self-taught opera singer will be giving a breathtaking performance of O Mio Babbino Caro. The 2024 first-time Featured Artist who finds singing Opera easier than pop songs has only been speaking English for five years.

Nine students from Lightning Ridge in remote NSW will be performing amongst their First Nations peers in the Aboriginal Dance Ensemble.

In its 41st year, Schools Spectacular Creative Director Sonja Sjolander :

The production would again push the boundaries of excellence, inclusion, diversity and engagement in the arts.

This year’s show features an opera singer who is self-taught and has only been in Australia for a few years, a collection of ABBA songs to mark the 50th anniversary of the legendary band winning the Eurovision song contest, a rock band performing Aerosmith’s power ballad, Dream On, pop songs from current and iconic artists, and musical theatre masterpieces that soar to new heights.

Student creativity is at the heart of this year’s show with an original orchestral composition called Voyage, written by 15-year-old Ming Li from Normanhurst Boys High School, to be performed live by the symphony orchestra.

We also have an original short story, written by seven- year-old Neysa Blake from Matthew Pearce Public School, forming the narrative for a segment performed by hundreds of students through song and dance.

An item focusing on the talents of students from rural and remote regions will also feature in this year’s show, involving everything from bagpipes to flutes, guitars, stunning vocals, dance and circus skills.

Executive Producer Richard Spiewak:

 The 2024 Schools Spectacular theme, ‘All 4 One’, was about teamwork, looking out for each other and working together, with everyone involved playing an “integral part in making the show happen.

“Schools Spectacular fosters a culture that values diversity and inclusion by platforming the talents and creativity of students and staff from across NSW, in particular students identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, students with disability, students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and students from regional, rural and remote schools.

The Spectacular is not one person or one team, it is truly ‘All 4 One’, for without every part working together, there would be no Spectacular.

SpecFest, the entertainment and activity hub set up just outside the Qudos Bank Arena’s front doors for audience members to enjoy, returns in 2024 with a marching band, a 12-student bagpipe performance comprised of students from Granville Boys High School, a poetry slam food, activities and a flashmob.

More than 40 Indigenous students from the remote community of Boggabilla have travelled almost 800 kilometres from Toomelah Public School to take part in this year’s Schools Spectacular SpecFest Flash Mob, many visiting Sydney for the first time.

The Spec Fest main stage will also feature the final rounds of the rural and remote band competition, Surround Sound, providing a platform for student musicians from country and regional areas.

This year’s competing school bands are Kooringal High School, Karabar High School, Moruya High School, Willyama High School, South Grafton High School, Albury High School, Lismore High School and Bowral High School.

Tickets are available through Ticketek and the audience is encouraged to book tickets early to ensure they don’t miss out on this unforgettable showcase of talent and creativity.

The 2024 Schools Spectacular is proudly supported by sponsors and supporters: Telstra, NSW Teachers Federation, School Bytes, Smart, Teachers Health, Woolworths, Stormer Music, Royal Agricultural Society of NSW and Event Partners: Qudos Bank Arena, Seven Network and Ticketek.

SpecFest 2024 is proudly supported by NSW Teachers Federation, School Bytes, Stormer Music, ACYP, ACCO Brands Australia, Cancer Council, Cultural Choice, Foodbank, Giants Netball, Golf Cart World, Gotch 4 Life, GSP Print/JC Decaux, GWS Giants, Haworth Guitars, Life Education, Netball NSW, NRL, NSW Swifts, Pan Macmillan Australia, Seven Network, Smart, Spriggy Schools, Steinway Australia, TeenBreathe, Telstra, Tennis NSW, The School Magazine, Winc Australia and Woolworths.

Surround Sound 2024 is proudly supported by Eclipse Lighting and Sound, Haworth Guitars, Traveller’s Home, and Turramurra Music.

Season Details

Venue: Qudos Bank Arena
Date: 29-30 Nov 2024

For more information click HERE