By Pam Kiriakidis
It is once again time for buskers to head onto Kilmore’s Sydney Street and perform their talents as part of this weekend’s Kilmore Regional Busking Championships.
From 9.30am until 3pm on Saturday, entrants will be perform along the main street, competing for prizes including the people’s choice awards, in which the public votes for their favourite acts from each age category.
The competition is an extension of the Australian National Busking Championship that supports other regional busking competitions throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
The winners in each age group earn a chance to compete in Cooma, NSW, in November for the national championships.
Rotary Club of Southern Mitchell president and busking coordinator Rose King said the Australian National Busking Championships were the inspiration behind the Kilmore event that was first hosted in 2019.
“It’s about social capital, because that’s really important in towns like this – they need to have events, they need to bring other people from different areas, and we need events to engage our locals too,” she said.
“The busking championships are focused on rural and regional, and there’s some pretty small towns that have their own busking championships and that’s because performance, particularly young people, really find it very hard to get performing experience in public.”
With more $8000 in cash prizes, and several sponsors supporting awards of between $50 and $200, Ms King said the event drew a diverse range of acts.
She said it was a chance for the public to discover talent, especially in the primary and secondary age groups that range from five to 18 years old.
“They’re always really nervous to begin with, although some of them are surprisingly confident. I think it probably helps them decide whether they want to take music seriously rather than as an enjoyment,” she said.
“My favourite part is the buzz that it brings to the street, because I walk around and I see smiling faces everywhere, and that is just so nice.”
The busking championships will end with a free finals concert from 4pm to 6pm at the John Kelly Pavilion, Kilmore Racing Club, East Street, Kilmore.
For more information, visit www.rscm.org.au/project-busking.
