Busker entries for this year’s Narooma Regional Busking Championships on Saturday 25 May are beginning to roll in from across the region, from Canberra to Victoria, and Wollongong to the border.
One of the first to register was Queanbeyan Pipes and Drums.
“We love going to the Narooma festival and always have a ball,” said their General Manager Pipe Major Graham Durant-Law. “We love the friendly atmosphere and the fact we can play anything we like, and anyone we like, and we love the town.”
He said they won’t know until the last minute how many of their 36-member band will be coming, but it will probably be 10 to 20. “This time we will bring a couple of different drums and a couple of different bagpipes.”
All buskers wanting to enter the Narooma Busking Championships need to register online by 11 May.
Queanbeyan Pipes and Drums will join a range of talented performers who will fill Narooma with music which is free and accessible to everyone.
It is part of the Australian National Busking Championships (ANBC) and the River of Art Festival.
Narooma Busking coordinator John Rungen said last year’s Festival was a huge success with 55 buskers performing at the many busking hot spots around town.
‘We’re hoping for even more buskers this year to compete for almost $10,000 in prize money from our wonderful sponsors,’ he said. ‘A new prize this year is a paid gig at Tilba Winery.’
Major sponsors Narooma Golf Club will sponsor the $1,000 People’s Choice first prize and host the finals, Club Narooma will sponsor the $1,000 Open Champion, and Big Four Narooma Easts Holiday Park will sponsor $500 for the Best School Group and the Registration Office.
The ANBC is now a national event with Narooma hosting one of the regional competitions. Winners from the regional events will be invited to compete in the National Grand Final in Cooma in November.
To check out the sponsors and prizes, go to busking.naroomarotary.org.au. To see the buskers who have already registered, check out facebook.com/ANBC Narooma.
Above: Queanbeyan Pipes and Drums love the town and the friendly atmosphere at Narooma Busking Championships.
