POETRY & BUSH MUSIC

“There was movement at the station for the word had passed around”

2026 VICTORIAN BUSH POETRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

“The Man from Snowy River is a household word today”….and Bush Poets tell the story of his ride! And that’s not all the Bush Poets will be talking about when they take the stage for the Victorian Bush Poetry Championships 2026.

Once again, they’ll all be chatting about the $8000 in cash and prizes that will be available over the course of the festival weekend. This huge influx of prizemoney made the 2025 Championships a ‘landmark’ event in the annals of Australian Bush

Poetry history and 2026 will once again showcase ‘The Best of the Best’ “Aussie” Poets as they try to secure their ‘share of the loot’ between the 16-19th April 2026.

As well as the $4000 worth of prizemoney usually offered for the various competition sections there will be 3 separate $1000 prizes on offer as well. These will be for the Overall Written Champion, the Overall Performance Champion & the Overall Grand Champion (best combined score over both the Written & Performance sections). (These prizes will be accompanied by $1000 in trophies).

All the regular Performance Championship sections will be on offer in which competitors vie to show their skills over a range of subject matter including Classical, Modern, Original Serious & Original Comedy. In addition, there will also be Yarnspinning & Novice competitions as well. Our “Man from Snowy River Recitation” competition will also be held on the Friday evening of the festival itself. (Don’t miss that one!).

Writers of Bush Poetry we want you too! Don’t miss out on the fun of participating in our competition. The ‘Silver Brumby’ (Original Serious) & Corryong Larrikin (Original Humorous) plus the Junior written competitions are also being held and will be judged pre-festival as per usual.

For those of you who’d ‘like to have a go’ at reciting yourself (on the festival weekend) there are 3 Poet’s Breakfasts for you to participate in (hosted by those rascals “The Rhymer from Ryde” & his sidekick Matthew Hollis) as well as our “Anzac Tribute” concert and our Thurs night “Open-Mike” show.

For those wishing to take a more leisurely approach to things “Banjo’s BlockSingalong Campfire Sessions” hosted by Simon Dillon & Colin O’Keefe will ramble along into the later hours of the evening. This dynamic duo will also perform in concert.

Senior Judge & Poetry Convenor Graeme Johnson will be joined by “Featured Poets” Peter Mace (former Australian Champion) Geoffrey. W. Graham, The Rhymer from Ryde & Tim Sheed (who will also assist him on the various judging panels as well).

*NB* Entry forms and information (for the various competitions) are to be found on this webpage.