Australia’s best bards and yarners to battle it out in the Colour City

Bush poets and storytellers from all around Australia are preparing to make the trek to Orange next month for the 10th annual Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Festival.

Kicking off on February 17, this year’s festival program is packed full of opportunities for poets, performers and storytellers of all abilities to get up and entertain, Organising Committee Chair and Rotary Club of Orange member, Len Banks, said.

But a real treat for poetry lovers this year is the inclusion of the National Bush Poetry Performance Championship. Hosted by the Australian Bush Poets Association, this highly entertaining performance competition draws poets from around the country, each reciting four poems: an original humorous, original serious, a contemporary poem (post-1950), and a traditional (pre-1950) poem.

“It's a very good opportunity for us because it will attract the best bush poets from around Australia,” Len said, adding that due to COVID it’s now been quite a few years since they have been able to hold the national competition.

“And they're all keen to get into it now, having not been able to travel for the last couple of years, so it'll be good!”

For young budding poets, or those who are not interested in entering the national competition, Len said there are plenty of other opportunities to perform their favourite poem or original verse. 

“On Saturday, February 25, we've got the youth competition and then also an open competition, which is for those adults who are not entering the national championship. So it gives people who feel that they're not up to the standard of the national champions a chance to enter a poetry competition,” Len said.

“Again, that's original poetry, in both the youth and the open competition, so its people perform their own poems, which is really quite entertaining.”

Poems can be about (almost) any topic, he added.

“So long as it's family-friendly. Banjo and all the Australian poets, they wrote about their life and what they experienced.

“So we tell kids to write about your pets, or your holiday, or your sport, or whatever interests you!

On top of that, there are a number of ‘walk-up’ performance opportunities for poets throughout the festival, as well as the popular Poetry Brawl at Molong’s Freemasons Hotel on Saturday, February 18, Wrath of Grapes at Heifer Station on Wednesday, February 22, and the inaugural ‘Cargo Cup’ poetry competition at the Cargo Inn on Saturday, February 25.

Make sure you book ahead for those events, Len advised.

A new addition to the festival line-up this year is a yarn spinning or storytelling competition, which gives the raconteurs a chance to ‘hold court’ at the Metropolitan Hotel on Friday, February 24.

“There will be a five-minute time limit, and again, any topic as long as it’s family-friendly; just pretend that you're talking around a campfire, or over the dinner table, or at the bar telling a yarn,” Len said

For those interested in participating, or watching, there will be two Friday night practice run events at the Metro on February 3 and February 10.

“It’s a chance to test it out, let people practice and stir a bit of interest — there should be some entertaining sort of stories to come out of that!”

The 2023 Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Festival takes place from Saturday, February 17 until Sunday, February 26.

For the full program of events, visit: www.orange360.com.au