If you walked around the town centre of Nelson Bay on the weekend, chances are your ears would have been assaulted by the music thanks to all the buskers.
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A prominent feature in the 2017 Bluewater Country Music Festival was the street busking.
Ryan Palmer, president of Tomaree Business Chamber and one of the festival organisers, said there were 30 registered buskers playing in the Bay across the weekend.
“We had a really good mix of different artists and style,” Mr Palmer said.
“I know some [artists] have got gigs out of busking.
“When you run a festival like this it’s not just about the businesses, but artists as well.”
The buskers were all registered for a competition held as part of the festival this year.
They were each allocated spots throughout the CBD, spanning Magnus, Stockton and Donald streets plus Victoria Parade.
They played in different spots on different days, and judges moved around listening to them perform.
In addition to the busking, a section of Stockton Street was closed to traffic on Saturday and a marquee stage, with seating in front, set up.
Mr Palmer said this added to the festival atmosphere.
Justess Jones took out the senior section of the busking competition. The runner up was Sandy Louise.
In intermediate, Sophia Chesworth was runner up and Trinity Woodhouse won.
Brooke Thompson took out the junior category.
Gnomes and Jess were runners up in the duo category but it was PJ and Stix, from Karuah, who won the category.
Ellie-Marie Watts
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
