General News
6 January, 2026
Drum spectacle celebrated
Maryborough's newest Girl on the Drum was supported by those throughout its half-century legacy.
The new Girl on the Drum, Addyson Plover, was flanked by a half-century of her predecessors for the milestone Highland Gathering.
The crowd swelled to fill the grandstand for the 50th anniversary of the Girl on the Drum.
The tradition, dating back to 1976, saw its 13th Girl on the Drum this year who continued a notable legacy in her family.
Before Addyson’s rendition of the Highland Fling high off the ground there were the Plover sisters who did the same from 2002 to 2013.
Most of them stood alongside her this year, as did nearly every other Girl on the Drum and past drum bearers, for the highly anticipated spectacle.
The Maryborough Highland Society presented the current and former girls on the drum with plaques to commemorate the event.
The ceremony was run by the organisation’s former president and drum bearer Andrew Rae who said the event was a year in the making.
“When we decided to do this I wanted to give them something to remember it by,” he said.
“That’s something they can keep, put on their mantlepiece, and have it forever.”
Maryborough is believed to be the home of the Girl on the Drum in Australia.
While it has since been performed elsewhere, Mr Rae said the local girls share a unique experience.
“They’re a very special group,” he said.
It’s one the community turns out for in numbers every year as the crowd grows right before it begins and largely leaves when it finishes.
“I think it means a lot to the community, and especially the older people in the community, because it’s been going for so long,” Mr Rae said.
Addyson, like Cobi Kaye before her, wasn’t a highland dancer before becoming Girl on the Drum.
Finding someone for the role has been a challenge throughout the tradition’s history but reached breaking point after COVID.
The fact it remains, however, is largely thanks to Christine Plover’s contribution training the Girl on the Drum for nearly 25 years.
“It has to be a very special little girl that will be prepared to get up there,” she said.
Christine’s granddaughter Addyson has been practicing at the family home ahead of this year’s Highland Gathering.
“The first time she got up [on the drum and stand] ... we had probably a hundred cows on the fence line watching her,” Christine said.
Addyson’s first year on the drum was a success, one that is likely to continue, as she’s planned to return for the next few years.
It’s an ongoing tradition Mr Rae said he was thrilled to play a role in.
“You feel really proud to be part of the community and put on an event for everyone in Maryborough,” he said.
The Maryborough District Advertiser published a two-page feature on the Girl on the Drum, including interviews with all the performers in the tradition’s history, in the Friday, January 2 edition of the paper.