Renown as a grape-stomping good time, Stanthorpe’s Apple and Grape Harvest Festival also promises festival-goers a toe-tapping good time when the town hosts the Australian National Busking Championships South East Queensland Regional Finals, on Saturday 29 February 2020.
Buskers from around South East Queensland will converge on Stanthorpe, filling the streets with music and complimenting a range of family entertainment on offer during the first weekend of the Festival.
“We love hosting the regional Busking Championships as part of Apple and Grape and we’re always excited to see who comes out of the woodwork to sing and play up a storm”, Greg Thouard, Festival Vice President said.
2020 marks Stanthorpe’s fifth year of hosting the popular regional busking championships, which provide competitors a stepping-stone to a career in the music industry. The Stanthorpe regional finals have produced four national Busking Championship winners – Mat Brooker, Felicity Kircher, Haystack Mountain Hermits and the Inadequates, so audiences can expect a very high standard of entertainment.
“With the past four winners here having gone on to become Australian National Champions, we know we’re in for some top quality performances – and from a visitor’s point of view, strolling the street between buskers is the perfect way to enjoy the shopping and dining in central Stanthorpe”, Greg Thouard, Festival Vice President said.
The 2020 event will provide the perfect mix of music with busking all day from 8am in Stanthorpe’s CBD, culminating with the finalists performing a free concert at Stanthorpe Civic Centre at 4pm. The concert also includes a special treat performance by great friends of Stanthorpe, 2015 Australian Busking Champions The String Family, who are returning for a number of gigs throughout festival week.
The competition is open to everyone, from primary school-aged performers to seasoned professionals. Solo singers and musicians, duos, trios and groups of any genre, and non-musical street entertainers will compete for a share of $6000 in prize money over numerous categories including age categories, best band, judges’ awards and People’s Choice.
Spectators can purchase Busker Dollars for $1 each and give them to their favourite busker, with the busker receiving the most Busker Dollars named as winner of the People’s Choice Award.
Buskers interested in participating in the 2020 South East Queensland Busking Championships should email buskingp2019@gmail.com or call 0427 670 150. Additional information can be obtained from the festival website appleandgrape.org.
The Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival receives support from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal in partnership with the Australian Government and also the Queensland Government through it’s Regional Arts Development Fund and the Queensland Destination Events Program.
Stanthorpe locals throw their support behind the busking, turning up to fill the streets en masse, plus locally owned small businesses show their support through sponsoring the 15 busking stations: Lily’s Café, Central Hotel, Hot Copper, Gleeson’s Mercery, Lifestyle Footwear, Stanthorpe Post Office, Reed Trading Co, Stanthorpe Newsagency, Country Club Hotel, Target Country, Zest Pastries, Café 77, Farmhouse Café Co, Vixen’s Bakery, Pure Inca, Cuts n Curls, Stannum Studio, Goldstone Jewellers, Carol Power, Granite Belt Cleaning & Hospitality Supplies, Pink Poppies and Country Lane Lifestyle.
Program and ticket information visit www.appleandgrape.org
GET THE FACTS…
WHEN: 28 February to 8 March 2020
WHERE: Busking along Maryland and High Street in Stanthorpe, Queensland
FESTIVAL INFORMATION: www.appleandgrape.org
BUSKING INFORMATION: www.appleandgrape.org/busking
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/appleandgrapefestival/
