This year's Taieri Youth Showcase will, for the first time, be open to primary school-aged children.
''It's a good opportunity for younger children to get involved before they get that self-consciousness,'' organising committee member Lynda Willsman said.
It was a good experience for children to have when they were young and ''more resilient''.
''If you try to start [performing] at 14 or 15 and don't have a good experience then you probably would never do it again,'' Mrs Willsman said.
''Auditions are quite hard.''
Mrs Willsman said the committee discussed including younger candidates and thought ''if the younger ones are good enough to get picked, they should be there''.
She also said the committee hoped it might boost the number of entries, which had lagged in recent years.
This year, there were 25 entries for what would be 12 available spots.
Entries closed last Friday.
Auditions will be held on August 29 directly before the showcase.
At last year's showcase the committee eliminated first, second and third-place prizes.
This year's committee had opted to do the same.
''It's about encouraging the youth of Taieri to share their talents with other people - it's not necessarily about competition,'' Mrs Willsman said.
''We want to showcase their talent.''
Plus, she said, it was hard to judge the acts against each other.
''How do you judge 10-year-old girls dancing against an 18-year-old violinist?''
