WISDAA Contests

WISDAA contests are school-based, meaning if students are interested in entering contests, they must have a school administration-approved sponsor/advisor who will supervise the group (and travel to the state contest, if attending in-person). Schools attending festivals at UW System campuses also must meet the responsible adult supervision protocols (§2 of the Eligibility/Participation Rules).

Locations & Dates #

Visit our Interactive Calendar, to hover your mouse over contests for location and details. Each local area sets its own schedules, so the State Office posts these on our website only when we have been notified.

Seasons #

Students may participate in multiple activities, and schools with middle level grades may participate in any of our activities, with only Speech having a distinct/separate contest series for middle level and high school. Speech and Theatre utilize a qualifying contest series, whereas Debate offers a single, monthly open structure, where students must earn qualifying records/scores at at least two contests, or apply for at-large consideration. Film is a “one-off” State-level event only. There are also other Speech contest opportunities in Wisconsin beyond WISDAA.

Click green column header buttons to learn more about each of our activities series.

Month
September	(Late Sept.): Workshop
October	Open Contest	District
November	Open Contest	Sectional \| State
December	Open Contest
January	Open Contest		Level 1
February	Open Contest		Level 1 (cont’d) \| Level 2	Subdistrict
March	Open Contest		Level 2 (cont’d)	District
April	State (w/Speech)			State (w/Debate)	State
May					State (cont’d)

Registering #

The Theatre and Speech (middle + high school) seasons start with an Initial Registration process, powered by SpeechWire. Debate is handled through a different platform, Tabroom.com. Film is just the State-level contest, and is handled through SpeechWire.

Initial contests (festivals) for One-Act Theatre, Middle Level Speech, and High School Speech CANNOT be found on SpeechWire’s own calendar, as these are special internal-series contests operated by WISDAA. All registration starts with the Initial Registration, and the State Office “pushes” entry data to the respective regional contests of which a school has selected for participation. Detailed registration instructions and walkthrough videos can be found in the respective “Contests” articles of the Help & FAQs Documentation on this website. Buttons that will take you directly to WISDAA’s custom registration can be found on the respective Contests pages in the Activities & Contests main menu.

Contest Contacts #

You may Contact Us to be connected to a local contest contact.

Hosting a Festival #

We have developed Help pages for hosting contests. WISDAA provides (pays for) contest management technology (SpeechWire; or for debate, Tabroom.com) for all official WISDAA contests.

Eligibility #

Students must meet requirements of Eligibility rules.

Membership #

Learn more about membership

Help/FAQs/Rules

Association Basics

Association Policies

Association Instructions

Speech Contests

Theatre Contests

UW System Safety Plans

Locations & Dates #

Seasons #

Registering #

Contest Contacts #

Hosting a Festival #

Eligibility #

Membership #

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Help/FAQs/Rules

WISDAA Contests

Locations & Dates #

Seasons #

Registering #

Contest Contacts #

Hosting a Festival #

Eligibility #

Membership #

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