Rutherglen hits the right note
The streets of Rutherglen will come alive with music when the town hosts one of the regional finals in the Australian National Busking Championships (ANBC) in August.
Chair of Destination Rutherglen Damien Adams said the event and will broaden the regions tourism offer with hopes to turn it into an annual event.
“This is a fantastic new event for Rutherglen. We do food and wine so well, but this will expand our reach and give us the opportunity to be exposed to a new market and new visitors,” Mr Adams told The Free Press.
“August is also the lowest visitation month. If we can get at least 1000 people eating, drinking, and staying, that will be a huge boom for our tourism industry.”
Winemakers of Rutherglen have come on board as early sponsors for the weekend and many local businesses are anticipated to be also joining the event.
At the launch last week, Mr Adams said the event will be in the style of a “New Orleans street party” providing great entertainment for both locals and visitors.
“The main street will be closed with up to 15 busking stations located up the street in front of various businesses,” he said.
“Roaming judges will evaluate and score the performances and a short list of the best buskers will be invited to appear in a finals concert.”
The event will run from Friday, August 27 to Sunday, August 29. The busking heats will commence on Saturday morning from 10 am, with the finals taking place later in the afternoon.
The public will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite buskers using busker tokens with the winner to receive the People’s Choice Award. Cash prizes in a range of categories will be awarded as well as the honour of representing the region at the Cooma National Finals in November.
A ‘Jam Session’ will also take place on Saturday evening hosted by one of Rutherglen’s central pubs. On Sunday buskers will rove around the town with more events to be announced in the coming months.
Now in its eleventh year, the ANBC is a national event which started exclusively in Cooma NSW and has grown to include eight towns in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria.
President of the ANBC Allan Spencer said he was thrilled to see Rutherglen added to the national spotlight of busking in Australia.
“Its heritage Main Street will be a perfect environment for the event which will deliver a wonderful and vibrant energy to the town,” he said.
Indigo Shire Mayor Jenny O’Connor welcomed the news of the exciting new event which will benefit residents, tourists and businesses alike.
“Rutherglen is a vibrant community and its natural assets of wine, location and history make it the perfect location for an event that celebrates creativity, community interaction and the joy that live music, spoken word and performance brings,” she said.