Plenty of talent and fun family entertainment will be on display for the Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Competition next weekend. A record number of poets will be competing covering all ages from primary school students to veterans. Competition organiser Len Banks from the Rotary Club of Orange says, “We have been inundated in the last week with entries from across NSW, Queensland and Victoria, giving us a record 46 poets entering”.

This is a recital competition for poets to present their own original poems on any topic, with a limit of five minutes per poem. Len said, “The High School, Primary School and reading contestants will perform between 10am and 12.30pm on Saturday February 23, at the Orange Ex Services Club and then the Novice recital and Open sections will be in the afternoon starting at 1.30 pm. An added attraction is a Mayoral Challenge with Mayors from Orange, Dubbo, Cabonne and Forbes presenting their original poems under the theme ‘Coming out of the drought’. This very topical theme will no doubt bring out some novel ideas and insights into the drought across the central west. The Mayors will present their poems from 2.30 pm”.

Marco Gliori from Warwick in Queensland is the guest poet for the Festival and as well as judging, he will be running workshops for Primary schools, performing at several Festival events and will host the Poetry Brawl at the Lord Anson Hotel on Friday 22 February.

Robyn Sykes is an Australian Champion Performance poet from Binalong, NSW and will return to the judging panel. The final judge is Jim Lamb from Young, who was a successful competitor last year.

The competition is organised and run by the Rotary Club of Orange and, for just a gold coin entry, everyone is encouraged to be part of the audience. You can be assured of wonderful entertainment.

With events fit for the whole family, view the full festival program at www.orange360.com.au