here sans-serif;”>Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢

– A Unique Music Festival For Your Town

About:

The Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ (ANBC) is now in it’s 5th year. For the first four years the ANBC has been held exclusively in Cooma NSW, the picturesque and historic capital of Australia’s Snowy Mountains. We have thought of these early years as the first stage in the ANBC vision for the future.

The next stage now is to make this event a truly National Championship by holding Preliminary Championships in various regional towns around Australia. The winners from these regional events will be then invited to complete in the Grand Final back in Cooma on the first weekend in November of each year.

This event has been a great success from day one and as the years have gone by we have developed a template for this festival that we feel, can work in any town with the right kind support and know-how.

We have already had a wonderfully successful ANBC Preliminary Regional Final in Stanthrope, Queensland this year in February.

Stanthorpe Photo Album:  http://coomamusic.com.au/australian-national-busking-championships/anbc-stanthorpe-my-photo-album

Stanthorpe Video Album: http://coomamusic.com.au/australian-national-busking-championships/anbc-stanthorpe-2016-video

A Unique Music Festival:

The Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ is a different sort of music festival for Australia. Music festivals in Australia have typically been based on a particular style of music, e.g. Tamworth Country Music Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Byron Bay Blues Festival. The ANBC is a celebration of all styles of music because the buskers that perform in this festival bring a huge variety of music to the event. Whether that be Blues, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Folk, Country, Bluegrass, Indigenous, Multicultural or Classical, the Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ reflects the rich diversity of Australian music culture.

Tickets for most music festivals are expensive; in the ANBC all the street entertainment is provided free of charge. The audience can, of course, tip the busker but that is their choice. All this wonderful music is performed literally feet away from them.

Although there are buskers at many music festivals in Australia, busking is typically relegated to a fringe activity. However, in this festival the buskers take pride of place. This festival brings music back to the people, back to the streets.

How Does This Work?

The buskers are assigned special locations (Busking Hot Spots), at various times, around the central business district of the participating town. A timetable will be emailed to all the registered buskers. Roaming judges assess these performances during the day. The buskers get to choose how many sets they would like to perform and whether they would like to perform for the whole day or just at certain times. However, all buskers must be available to perform in the Preliminary Finals Concert at say, 5pm to be held in an open air venue such as the town park.

The prize-winners for the age categories will be selected by a panel of judges at the Preliminary Finals Concert. The Open Age Winner for each of these regional championships will be invited to go on to compete in the Grand Finals in Cooma.

A Worthwhile Community Event.

In Cooma, we have found that from it’s first year the Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ has helped local not-for-profit groups raise money through fund raising activities on the day. Organisations such as the Cooma District Hospital Auxiliary, Cooma Rotary Club, Cooma Railway, 2MNO Community Radio, Cooma Swimming Club, St Patrick’s Parish School, to name a few, have raised thousands of dollars through this event. In fact, the main reason why the Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ came into existence was through the wonderful work of the “Snowy Ride”. The ANBC was originally conceived to provide entertainment and fun for the 4,000 or so Snowy Riders as they pass through Cooma. Since it’s beginnings in 2001, this annual motorcycle event has raised over $5 million towards childhood cancer research. The Snowy Ride is organised by the Steven Walter Children’s Cancer Foundation. So we, at the Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ are pleased to support the Snowy Ride. For more information about the Snowy Ride go to:https://www.snowyride.org.au/

The ANBC has also generated a much needed financial boost to the businesses of our country town. Coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, motels, clubs, retail shops and service stations have all benefited over the years. For Cooma, the ANBC comes at a normally “lean time” well after the winter ski season and before the start of Christmas trading. To their credit, local businesses have got behind this event by generously sponsoring prizes for the winners of the Championships.

The Rotary Club Partnership.

In 2014, the Rotary Club of Cooma offered their assistance in running this community based event. Ever since, ANBC has gone from strength to strength. The ANBC committee sees this Rotary connection has vital to the continual growth of this great event.

The Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ has the unique ability to provide significant benefits to the performers, the venue hosts, local businesses, community organisations and the general public. We hope you can join us in providing this wonderful event for your town. Celebrate with us, Australia’s rich and diverse music street culture!

More Links:

ANBC Stanthorpe 2016 – Video

ABC Radio National – Bush Telegraph – Busking Report

http://coomamusic.com.au/category/australian-national-busking-championships/page/2