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About

The Australian National Busking Championships™  is all about celebrating music in all its rich and wonderful variety. This year’s event will be the first of its kind for Cooma and the scenic Snowy Mountains of Australia.

We’re inviting musicians from all over Australia to play and compete in this new and exciting event. We hope that all styles of music will be represented, such as Folk, Classical, Rock, Country, Jazz, Blues and more. So if you enjoy making music and entertaining outdoors, this is the day for you. Put your hat out and make a bit of money, and be in the running for over $2000 of cash prizes.

There will be three age categories for prizes:

• The Australian Busking Champion Open – (open to all ages) – $1000 prize money plus 2 Runner-up prizes of $200 each.
• The Australian Busking Champion Secondary – (secondary school age) – $200 plus 2 Runner-up prizes of $50 each.
• The Australian Busking Champion Primary – (primary school age) – $100 plus 2 Runner-up prizes of $30

Plus the People’s Choice Award – $200.

The prize-winners for the age categories will be selected by a panel of judges at the “Finals Concert” which will be held in Centennial Park at 5pm. Buskers competing in the “Finals Concert” will be selected by the judges from all the busking performances held during the morning and afternoon on the same day.

Primary aged competitors will be asked to give their daytime performances in the park. These younger buskers need only perform for a short time (perhaps 5 to 10 minutes). Their performances will be judged there and then in the park. The results will be announced later in the afternoon, before the start of the “Finals Concert.” A parent or guardian of these children must be present for these performances. Children must not be left unattended.

The older buskers, Secondary & Open, will be assigned various locations around Centennial Park and surrounding CBD of Cooma. They will be asked to move every half hour to a new busking spot. It is hoped that this will provide a variety of locations for the buskers and also a variety of performances for the public. Roaming judges will be assessing these performances during the day. And again, the results will be announced later in the afternoon, before the “Finals Concert.” During the day, rest breaks of half an hour may be taken as required.

The People’s Choice Award will be an chance for the public to decide which busker (any age) that they liked the best. Specially printed “Busker Dollars” will be available free from the Cooma Visitors Centre. People can then cast their vote by placing their “Busker Dollars” into the hat of their favourite busker. At end of the day the busker with the most “Busker Dollars” wins the People’s Choice Award.

The Australian National Busking Championships™ is happening on the same weekend as the “Snowy Ride” which is an annual motorcycle event that brings thousands of riders from all over Australia to raise money for Childhood Cancer Research. Also on that Sunday in Cooma at the Raglan Gallery is the nationally recognised poetry competition, “A Feast of Poetry.” This year’s “A Feast of Poetry” will feature a song writing competition* as well as poetry. So, Cooma will be a very busy and fun place to be on Sunday 4th November.

So if you’re up for a great day of music and fun, get your entry form** in ASAP. When you’ve returned your entry form you will be sent a “Buskers Registration Sticker” which you must wear on the day. Remember, only buskers that have been registered and have a valid “Buskers Registration Sticker” will be allowed to compete. Also, you may perform as a solo busker or in a group of buskers. Remember any money that you make while you’re busking is yours to keep..you earned it!

**Download Australian National Busking Championships™ Entry Form here:  entry form 2012 ANBC

*Download A Feast of Poetry Entry Form here: Feast of Poetry 2012 brochure

If you have any trouble downloading these forms please contact me and I can email them to you as an attachment, or I can post them to you.

CONTACT:  Allan Spencer

Cooma School of Music
Shop 2, Parkview Arcade, 123 Sharp Street,
Cooma, NSW 2630
Phone: 02 6452 6067
Fax: 02 6452 4938
Email: allan@coomamusic.com.au