5 March 1958   Royal Music Festival

On 5 March 1958 some 200,000 people attended a music festival in Elder Park. The festival was staged to celebrate the visit of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The Queen arrived at the Park on a flower decorated barge. The official party viewed the proceedings from the Rotunda. The sound stage was filled with 1500 choristers, representing 144 choirs; there were 500 orchestral musicians and four pipe bands. As part of the evening's entertainment a pageant of decorated boats passed down the lake, amongst them a swan chariot, golden carriage, river steamer, gondolas and a royal crown.

At the end of the evening the Queen re-embarked on the barge for the journey back up-river to the eastern side of the City Bridge. Earlier in the day the Queen Mother met women at the Art Gallery, children at Victoria Park, and opened the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Flower day was held to coincide with the visit so the city was a mass of floral arrangements. The music festival was repeated the following night with the Governor's wife, Lady George, standing in for the Queen.

The Advertiser, 6 March 1958.