page_title: Wagga Wagga
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Wagga Wagga / Recreation and culture / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Civic Theatre Wagga Wagga
context_page_description: Wagga Wagga is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's largest inland city, and is an important agricultural, military, and transport hub of Australia. The ninth fastest growing inland city in Australia, Wagga Wagga is located midway between the two largest cities in Australia–Sydney and Melbourne–and is the major regional centre for the Riverina and South West Slopes regions.
  The central business district is focused around the commercial and recreational grid bounded by Best and Tarcutta Streets and the Murrumbidgee River and the Sturt Highway. The main shopping street of Wagga is Baylis Street which becomes Fitzmaurice Street at the northern end. The city is in an alluvial valley and much of the city has a problem with urban salinity.
  The original inhabitants of the Wagga Wagga region were the Wiradjuri people. In 1829, Charles Sturt became the first European explorer to visit the future site of the city. Squatters arrived soon after.
context_section_description: The main cultural precinct for Wagga Wagga can be found in central Wagga Wagga, at the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre on the banks of Wollundry Lagoon. The precinct includes the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre, Museum of the Riverina, Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery and Wagga Wagga City Library.
  The Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre was officially opened in 1963 at a cost of ₤165,000. During its design and construction and again after opening the theatre was the subject of severe criticism. Critics lamented the destruction of rose gardens removed to allow construction, the size of the orchestra pit, the amount of seating (497 seats) as well as the design of the feature mural. A considerable refurbishment was carried out in the 1990s and now the theatre is regarded as one of the best in regional Australia, playing host to national and international touring acts.
  The Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery hosts local collections and travelling exhibitions and has space for an Artist in residence. The centrepiece of the collection is the National Art Glass Gallery, a nationally significant collection of studio art glass hosted in a separate, specially designed gallery. The collection was first established by the former director of the Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery, Judy Le Lievre in response to a request by the Australia Council for regional galleries to develop a specialised collection to avoid duplication and competition. The collection consists of around 400 works making it the largest studio glass collection in Australia.
  The Museum of the Riverina was established in 1967 by the Wagga Wagga and District Historical Society. Wagga Wagga City Council took over its operations in the late 1990s and it now operates at two sites. The Historic Council Chambers site on the corner of Baylis and Morrow streets in central Wagga, hosts travelling exhibitions and the main site at the Botanic Gardens is home to the main collection including the Wagga Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame. The museum also has an important collection of memorabilia about the Tichborne Case, including a set of four rare plaster figurines depicting characters from the trial, a complete set of hard-bound court transcripts and a monumental painting entitled The Tichborne Trial painted in 1874 by Nathan Hughes, which hangs in the city's council chambers.
  The Wagga Wagga Jazz Festival was established in 1995 and has featured a range of Australian and international musicians. Established in 1976 as the Riverina Trucking Company and renamed in 1983, the Riverina Theatre Company is one of Australia's longest running regional theatre companies and runs a full program of events each year at the Riverina Playhouse, which is located on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River and owned by Charles Sturt University.
  Notable artists and performers from Wagga Wagga include poet Dame Mary Gilmore, who is featured on the Australian 10 dollar note and veteran actor Bill Kerr. Former Yellow Wiggle, Sam Moran, is from Wagga Wagga, having replaced the original Yellow Wiggle, Greg Page, in November 2006. The fictional creation of satirist Barry Humphries, Dame Edna Everage was said to have been born in Wagga Wagga.
  Frank Ottenson wrote a song Wagga Wagga about the city in 1942, calling it a 'Riverina paradise’. It was recorded by Tom Davidson and his Orchestra.
  Wagga has strong cultural ties with three international sister cities which form part of a twinning program. Those sister cities are Leavenworth, Kansas in the United States, which was established in 1962; Nördlingen in Germany, established in 1967; and Kunming in China, mutually established in 1988.
caption: The Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre, opened in 1963.
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