by ANBC | Feb 18, 2026 | _MediaRelease
Aspiring and established buskers are being encouraged to be part of the inaugural Cobargo Fringe Australian National Busking Championships (ANBC) regional heat to be held ahead of the annual Cobargo Folk Festival on Thursday February 26.
Buskers of all ages, levels and genres will compete for cash and a spot in the national grand final in Cooma in November – playing three 30 min sets at designated busking spots in Cobargo village from 10am-4pm, with winners announced at the Cobargo Hotel that night at 5pm.
ANBC Cobargo Fringe is an exciting new partnership between the Yuin Folk Club and the Australian National Busking Championships. It has been supported by the Cobargo Hotel, Bendigo Bank, Bermagui Country Club, Cobargo Show Society, Bega Cheese Ltd and the Yuin Folk Club.
ANBC Cobargo Fringe is seeking entries in the primary, secondary, open, masters, duo, and band categories and there is also a People’s choice award where supporters vote for their favourite buskers using tokens purchased to raise money for a local charity.
Entries are now open till Monday.
The event is the eighth regional heat of the Australian National busking Championships for 2026 with heats being held around Australia.
Judges will include ANBC president Alan Spencer, ANBC ambassador and past prizewinner Gabi Forman and ANBC past winner and now Golden Guitar nominee, Toyota Starmaker finalist and local Felicity Dowd.
ANBC president Allan Spencer said he was delighted to welcome Cobargo to the ANBC family. Mr Spencer founded the ANBC 14 years ago and it has grown to become a prestigious and highly respected event.
“We had been keen to extend it to the south coast for some time and are very honoured that Cobargo Folk festival was so willing to develop this new partnership are quite short notice,” he said.
“I encourage musicians and performance of all ages to enter this first Cobargo heat and enjoy all the benefits that come with it.
“ The Australian National Busking championships is for everybody whether you just want to have a go at busking or if you want to use it to start your career as a performer and it has seen the likes of one of our judges Felicity Dowd and ambassador Gabi Forman along with many other well-known performers start their journeys at the grassroots on the streets as buskers at our various heats around Australia.”
Cobargo Folk festival Director Zena Armstrong said she was excited to see Cobargo Village alive with the sound of buskers during the two-day fringe festival leading up to the annual Cobargo Folk festival and encouraged people to enter as soon as possible to secure a spot.
“Buskers and their families and friends will be able to enjoy not only the day of busking but also, we are pleased to introduce the Australian National Busking Championships to Cobargo alongside the free fringe festival It Takes a Village which features many art exhibitions, book signings and concerts. Come for the busking and stay for the festival!”
“They can then choose to stay around for the folk festival over the weekend which is bursting at the seams with amazing acts and workshops and “If you are having a weekend on the coast and want to add some music, we even have courtesy buses running from caravan parks nearby for people who don’t plan to camp at the actual festival site. “
ANBC Ambassador and award-winning singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Gabi Forman encouraged all musicians and performers to enter the event.
“I started busking in Cooma with the ANBC when I was 12 years old and it has been integral to the development of my musical career which is taking me to play at major festivals including Tamworth and Gympie and mini folk festivals including Cobargo,” she said.
“Busking is not only a lot of fun, but it also gives you skills that you can take to the stage later on if that’s what you want to do. You learn so much about how to read audiences and what works and what doesn’t and it’s just so much fun with the great atmosphere if I was not judging it, I would love to enter it myself. “
The prizes are:
- Primary School – 1st place $300
- Secondary School – 1st place $500 (sponsored by Bendigo Bank)
- Open – 1st place $1500 (sponsored by Cobargo Hotel Motel)
– 2nd place $500
– 3rd place $300
- Masters – 1st place $500 (sponsored by Bermagui Country Club)
- People’s Choice – 1st place $500 (sponsored by Bendigo Bank)
- Judge’s Encouragement Awards – 3 x $100
Entry Fees: $25 for Solo, $50 for Duo, $60 for Groups of 3 or more.
Find out more and enter online at
https://airtable.com/appvUVq7PYPH9uF4E/pagI9KB8wD2i4dztP/form
Media enquiries:
Australian National Busking Championships Inc
Cooma, NSW
MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS: Karen Forman 0425 675 555
PRESIDENT: Allan Spencer 0407 384 590
www.busking.com.au
Media Release_Buskers sought for inaugural Cobargo ANBC
by ANBC | Nov 16, 2025 | _MediaRelease
CENTRAL COAST busking duo Denim (aka Mitchi Renegen and Meagan Jane) has been named the 14th Australian National Busking Champions.
The award to the acoustic/folk/rock/country duo was made following a day of tough competition at the Australian National Busking Championships two day-three night busking and music festival in the Snowy Mountains town of Cooma, NSW, at the weekend (November 15-16).
ANBC founder and president Alan Spencer congratulated the duo and said the event was “the best yet”. “We had more entrants, we had big crowds on both days, amazing support from the local community providing over $14,000 prizemoney and prizes and the music community and great work from many volunteers,” he said.
Celebrity judges Kerrie Gambley (Haystack Mountain Hermits), John Littrich (The Water Runners) and Kyle Kash (Tamworth Busking Coordinator) said they had had a tough day judging “an amazing array of talent” and were impressed at the wide variety of genres and talents on display in Cooma’s streets during the festival.
Runners up in the Open division were Perth ukulele comedian Tomas Ford (Woody Campfire) and country artist Amanda Heartsong. Woody Campfire won his way into the national grand final with a win in the Cooma heat the previous day, impressing the judges with his wicked comedy and high energy off the stage antics.
FULL MEDIA RELEASE INCLUDING ALL RESULTS AND QUOTES PLUS RESULTS AND IMAGES ATTACHED
Winners_2025 ANBC Grand Final Winners_2025_ANBC_Cooma Heat
Winners at the national grand final of the Australian National Busking Championships in Cooma, with founder Allan Spencer
2025 Australian National Busking Champions Denim (Meagan Jane)
2025 Australian National Busking Champions Denim (Mitchi Renegen)
by ANBC | Nov 10, 2025 | _MediaRelease
Two more celebrity judges announced from
Australian National Busking Championships
..and both are former winners!
THE Australian National Busking Championships has announced the second and third celebrity judges for its gala three night/two day combined regional and national grand final event in November.
Joining Tamworth Country Music Festival busking coordinator Kyle Kash on the judging panel in 2025 will be musician, vocalist, songwriter, and mum in the family band Haystack Mountain Hermits – Kerrie Gambley from Tamborine Mountain, Queensland.
The Hermits won the ANBC in 2017/18 and are currently finalists in the Gold Coast Music Awards as Live Act of the Year.
The third judge is John Littrich, lead singer of award-winning South Coast band The Water Runners, which has won Best Band at the ANBC and has recently won runner-up in the Australian Folk Music Awards People’s Choice.
ANBC President Allan Spencer said he was delighted and honoured to welcome Kerrie and John to the judging team, along with Kyle.
“This year’s event is a double whammy with the regional Cooma heat and the national grand final all on the one weekend, with a myriad of events, concerts, workshops and attractions for the general public,” he said.
“Securing judges of the calibre of Kerrie, John and Kyle – people who really know and understand the essence of busking as an art form – is a huge plus for the ANBC as we enter a big phase of growth.”
Now in its 14th year and with many buskers having gone on to big things on the national and world stage, Mr Spencer said the ANBC was working to develop ties with other major music festivals.
“We already sent our Ambassador, last year’s runner-up Gabi Forman, to perform at the Gympie Music Muster this year, and we are in talks with Tamworth Country Music Festival and Cobargo Folk Festival to see what links we can grow there.”
The two new judges both said they were honoured to be invited to perform what Allan says is “a very tricky task” due to the wide variation of genres buskers bring to the competition.
“It is important that our judges have a good understanding of the elements of busking, which is a form of street performance where you really only have a matter of seconds to attract passers-by and get them to stop and listen and watch,” Allan said.
“Having two judges who have been previous winners and have gone on to be award-winning performers really gives our buskers reassurance that they are being judged by people who understand their craft.”
Judging at the Australian National Busking Championships is a full-circle moment for Kerrie: Haystack Mountain Hermits were crowned Best Band in 2017 and Open Champions in 2018, collecting multiple regional titles, including People’s Choice, before taking out the Tamworth Busking Championships in 2019.
Formed on the road while busking around Australia in 2011–2012, the Haystack Mountain Hermits never stopped playing together, carrying that same grassroots spirit onto bigger stages.
Since then, the band has become a fixture on the Australian festival circuit, performing at Tamworth, Woodford, Gympie Music Muster, Groundwater, the National Folk Festival, Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival, and many more.
They have toured to great acclaim and are four-time finalists in the Australian Folk Music Awards, most recently placing third in the 2024 People’s Choice category.
Kerrie’s songwriting has also earned national and international recognition through Tamworth Songwriters Association, Australian Songwriters Association, Unsigned Only and the International Songwriting Competition. Her Anzac ballad, written in honour of her great-grandfather and the Australian Light Horse, is a widely viewed hit.
The Australian National Busking Championships hold a special place in Kerrie’s heart, and she said she was delighted to return in 2025.
“I am thrilled to return this year to celebrate and support the next generation of buskers,” she said.
John said he was excited to visit Cooma to take a judging role. “I am really excited about coming to Cooma and helping with the judging. I can’t wait to see the talent that I know this competition always draws. It’s an honour to be part of it'”
His resume as both a busker and a musician/songwriter is expansive. John played in various bands from his teens in the 1980’s including rhythm and blues outfit The Creepers playing venues in Sydney and surrounds, and also regularly supporting a number of bigger acts of the day, including The Cockroaches and Dynamic Hepnotics.
Moving to the South Coast of NSW for work and family, John played in local cover bands before teaming up with friends Neil McCann and Paul McGee in 2004 to write and perform music for schools and early learners with Dogmatic Music and The Rockalots.
In 2013, John and Neil formed a folk/bluegrass band called Crooked River (with John on lead vocals, guitar and harmonica), playing at a local festival.
This band evolved into The Water Runners, who play a blend of bluegrass-infused Australian folk. Since 2016, The Water Runners have played at festivals and venues around Australia and have also had fun busking at markets, festivals and other events.
Along the way, John and Neil have picked up a number of songwriting awards and final placings with the Australian Songwriters Association and Tamworth Songwriters Association song competitions.
In 2020, The Water Runners were voted ‘Best Band’ and were second in the Open category in the Australian National Busking Championships. In 2021 and 2025, The Water Runners were nominated as finalists in the People’s Choice category in the Australian Folk Music Awards.
Categories include Primary, Secondary, Open, Masters, People’s Choice, Best Duo and Best Band. Entrants will play four 30-minute sets at designated busking stations outside Cooma businesses on the day, with announcement of winners and presentations made at the Alpine Hotel, along with winning busker performances and other live nighttime entertainment.
Tamworth-based music publicist and journalist Bec Gracie, who works with many Tamworth country music stars, will sponsor a major award for the Best Masters Muso (a musician over 50).
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Further information can be found at www.busking.com.au
John Littrich from The Water Runners has joined the judging team for the 2025 Australian National Busking Championships in 2025. PHOTO: Supplied.
Australian National Busking Championships has welcomed Kerrie Gambley from Haystack Mountains Hermits as a 2025 judge. PHOTO: Ryan Gittoes
MEDIA ENQUIRIES/INTERVIEW REQUESTS
Karen Forman – ANBC Media Coordinator (See PDF for contact details)
Allan Spencer – ANBC President (See PDF for contact details)
Media Release celebrity judges for ANBC 1025 FINAL
by ANBC | Sep 1, 2022 | ANBC General
I’m very sorry to confirm that our Facebook site www.facebook.com/australiannationalbuskingchampionships was taken over by a hacker, and content posted that violated the Facebook “community standards”. In addition they launched an ad campaign costing $600 promoting, it seems, Tesla electric vehicles. (Why!!??)
In response, Facebook have without warning and without recourse deleted Allan’s personal and associated business Facebook account and pages, and in the process losing tens of thousands of page followers and many years of hard work on social media.
A new Facebook page will be launched soon, and hopefully we can begin to rebuild the social media following. Thank you for your support and understanding during this time!
