What a weekend! Binalong was buzzing on September 12-14 when the NSW Bush Poetry Championship caravan parked itself in Banjo Paterson heartland. People came from Queensland, Victoria and all over NSW to tell stories of people and places around Australia.
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It was a weekend of competition poetry interspersed with music, yarn spinners, MC patter and more. A huge variety of classical, original and contemporary bush poetry had the audience thoughtful, tearful and then roaring with laughter.
“As a judge, I can tell you the standard of the competition was very high,” said Robyn Sykes, President of Binalong Arts Group (BAG) and one of the judging panel. “It was excruciating to try and separate the top performers. In the Men’s we had a different winner for each of the three categories, which gives you some idea of how even the competition was.”
A real highlight of the weekend was Saturday night’s Celebrate Australia Concert, featuring the judges, MCs and local musicians. The Man From Snowy River and Clancy of the Overflow will never be the same for those who saw Greg North for the first time. Robyn Sykes replaced her purple BAG committee T-shirt with her performing clothes to bring Elvis back from the dead. Clancy and Skoey of “Pasture Prime” kept everyone toe-tapping, proving they are not “Passed yer Prime”. MC Mike Grogan, present-day owner of “Illalong” (the property on which the young Banjo Paterson grew up) told hilarious tales of modern "Banjophiles" on the trail of their idol.
The event brought together a huge number of people. Open mic events gave everyone a chance to perform and Binalong’s own Celia Walker won the One Minute Poem.
“The way the community got behind us was fantastic,” said Mrs Sykes. “We couldn’t do it without such wonderful support from people and businesses in Binalong, Yass, Boorowa and beyond. Yass Valley Council gave us a lovely grant and local farming enterprises like Mylora Pastoral and Kuriong Sheep Station were very generous. The Binalong P&C and Brahmans and the Bowning and District Lions all contributed enormously. It was a great community effort.”
The rural scenery (courtesy Binalong School) and gum leaf decorations made the Mechanic Institute feel like a bush setting, highlighted by a delightful wooden cockatoo on a stand, painted by Binalong's local Archibald Prize winning artist, Janet Dawson.
The Binalong primary school children recited Banjo Paterson’s poem "Weary Will the Wombat" beautifully. The Binalong Junior Brass Band, some dwarfed by their instruments, won even the hardest hearts and had the hall swaying to “Bound for Botany Bay”.
Local glass artist Peter Minson crafted spectacular cockatoo trophies for the Bubbles Garry Award (for the NSW Women’s Performance Champion) and the Adrian Sykes Award (for the NSW Men’s Champion). Representatives of the Garry and Sykes families presented the awards to Rhonda Tallnash (Violet Town Vic), who completed a clean sweep of the women’s categories, and Ralph Scrivens (Corrimal NSW).
Mr Scrivens’ energetic performance of Murray Hartin’s “Turbulence” was outstanding and won him the Men’s Contemporary section. John Peel (Tumut) and Ken Potter (Yallah) took out the Men’s Classical and Original respectively. David Campbell (Beaumaris, Vic) won the NSW Written Bush Poetry Championship.
“I’d like to pay tribute to the BAG committee,” said Mrs Sykes. “It’s been a huge privilege to work with such an extraordinary group of talented and dedicated people.We’ve had fantastic feedback on the event and the whole thing has been sensational.”
