The Australian National Busking Championshipsâ„¢ (ANBC) is now in it’s 6th 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 ANBC Regional Busking Competitions in various regional towns around Australia. The winners from these regional events will be then invited to complete in the National Grand Final back in Cooma in November of each year.

These are our 2017 Regional Busking Competitions so far:

• Stanthorpe Qld – 25 February
• Ballarat Vic – 18 March
• Narooma NSW – 27 May
• Noosa Qld – 10 June
• Peak Hill NSW – 23 September

In 2018 we could have as many as seven more regional towns on board.

How Does This Work in Cooma?

1. The buskers are assigned special locations (Busking Hot Spots), at various times, around the CBD Cooma.
2. A timetable is given to all the registered buskers.
3. Roaming judges assess these busking performances during the day.
4. The Judges produce a short list of the best buskers who are then invited to compete in a Grand Final Concert at 4:00 pm at Centennial Park.
5. First place winners from the Open, Secondary and Primary age categories from the other ANBC Regional Competitions also qualify for a place a the Grand Final. These first place winners are also welcome to busk during the day as they can earn cash tips and Peoples Choice Award votes.
6. The prizes are then awarded to the buskers with the most outstanding performances at this Grand Finals Concert.

The People’s Choice Award.

All buskers are encouraged to earn cash tips throughout the competition. 100% of this money made in cash tips is theirs to keep. Buskers may also sell their CDs and other merchandise.100% of this money from these sales will also go to these buskers. So besides the extra dollars that enterprising buskers can make in tips and sales there’s over $10,000 in cash to be won. This $10,000 prize pool is made up of over twenty different categories. Among these generous prizes there’s the Peoples Choice Awards where the public gets to vote for their favourite busker. The Peoples Choice Awards are $2,000 in total.

1. These prizes are awarded to the buskers that get the most Busker Votes.
2. The public will be able to purchase Busker Votes for $1 each on the day from the Cooma Rotary Club.
3. There’s a limit of 50 Busker Votes per customer.
4. The customer must validate their Busker Votes by writing their name and telephone number on the back of their Busker Votes.
5. Invalid Busker Votes will not be counted.
6. The public then can vote for their favorite busker by tipping that busker with Busker Votes.
7. By the way, all of the Busker Votes will be placed into a Lucky Draw for several great prizes.
8. The Busker Votes Lucky Draw will be conducted during the Finals Concert at the end of the day after all the Busker Votes have been counted.
9. So the public can share in the fun of the Grand Final Concert by also having a chance at winning prizes.

All The Prizes:

• Competitors must be at the Grand Final Concert to win a prize.
• In the Age Categories (Open/Secondary/Primary) competitors must be ready to perform on stage.
• If deemed necessary the judges may decide to award extra places in the Age Categories. Suitable cash amounts will be allocated to these extra places.

Open Age Category

• $2,000 – First Place (Open Champion)
• $1,000 – Second Place
• $500 – Third Place

Secondary Age Category

• $500 – First Place (Secondary Champion)
• $300 – Second Place
• $200 – Third Place

Primary Age Category

• $300 – First Place (Primary Champion)
• $200 – Second Place
• $100 – Third Place

Best Band – $1,000

Best School Group – $1,000

Peoples Choice Awards

• $1,000 – First Place
• $700 – Second Place
• $300 – Third Place

Special Judges Awards.

$200 each - These are awards that, where appropriate, recognize and encourage the abilities of some buskers in various categories and with a variety of skills. In the past, we have awarded Special Judges Awards for:

• Indigenous
• Ability (for buskers with a disability)
• Multicultural
• Family
• Country/Bluegrass
• Blues
• Jazz
• Classical
• Folk
• Community Based Music
• Youth Encouragement

Important Links:

• Entry Form: ENTRY FORM_2017 Cooma AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL BUSKING CHAMPIONSHIPS
• For Large Groups: GROUP MEMBERS LIST FORM_Cooma 2017
• Would you like to be a sponsor or donate: ANBC 2017 Sponsorship prospectus_COOMA