Your role as a caregiver (parent) to a student is so affirming to young people expressing themselves in speech, debate, theatre, and film activities! Here are the various ways caregivers engage with our association:
Attending Contests #
All our contests are open to the public, subject to space considerations — at various venues we use, we are subject to what classrooms/facilities are available, and what the safe operating capacity for those are.
Before coming to a festival, please ask your child for an itinerary of when and where they are performing. For youth protection and privacy purposes, contest staff will not share where individual students are assigned.
Theatre #
Contests are held regionally, mid-October to early November. At the State Festival (weekend before Thanksgiving), due to venue space/audience capacity concerns and facility costs, caregivers and other guests must purchase a view pass. We highly suggest arriving early; during peak times, lines start forming well ahead of performances.
Speech & Debate #
Debate contests are held online, about once a month from October through March; Speech contests are held regionally, mid-January to late March. April’s State Festival is held at UW-Madison, where we are at the mercy of classroom spaces assigned to our event. Buildings and rooms on Madison’s campus are often outdated and small, so we CANNOT guarantee adequate spectator space. Our priority is to ensure contestants are in the room. Contest officials and adjudicators may suspend a contest round if the room capacity is exceeded, to ensure adherence to fire codes.
Film #
The State Film is currently online only, with school-submitted films available for public viewing. Please ask your student and their faculty advisor for the link to view films.
Audience Conduct Expectations #
Adjudicating #
A number of our activities, such as Speech, rely on schools providing a certain number of adjudicators equivalent to the number of entries participating.
Advocacy #
You can use your voice to promote establishment or retention of our activities in schools.
