Saturday 15 March 2014

Banjo Paterson Festival

Banjo Paterson is a national icon. He wrote many of our most famous poems, Waltzing Matilda, The Man from Snowy River and Clancy of the Overflow among them. He still makes news, and invokes controversy. Recently Orange held a Banjo Paterson Festival to mark the sesquicentenary of his birth.


Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson was born at 'Narrambla' near Orange on 17 February 1864. His family actually lived at Yeoval, but his mother had come into town for his impending arrival.

There were many functions as part of the festival, most of which I didn't get to. This is but a taste.

A competition was held for shop windows
Collins Booksellers Orange
won by McDonalds

A competition and sale featuring local artists

with works inspired by the man and his writings


Inspired by Old Man Platypus
Sampa Bhakta

A display at the Orange library

A signed copy of The Man From Snowy River

Original manuscript draft of
The Reveille


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10 comments:

  1. Sean @ His And Her Hobbies15 March 2014 at 23:45

    The festival looks like it would have been a lot of fun. It has been many years since I have been to Orange but it is such a nice little town from what I remember. Banjo is such a big part of Australian literature so its nice to see that he is still being recognized and that young Australian still know his works. Thanks for sharing these photos. I really enjoyed it.

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  2. Peggy Ann16 March 2014 at 00:03

    Sounds like a fun event. I can't imagine trying to ride one of those old bikes!

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  3. Susan Lindquist16 March 2014 at 01:36

    Fun event! Your Banjo Patterson seems a folkie like our Pete Seeger ... prolific, well-loved, and an icon of national folk culture.

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  4. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz16 March 2014 at 01:38

    Of course, I've heard of Waltzing Matilda, but I have only the tiniest bit of information about The Man from Snowy River and Banjo Paterson is a name that is completely new-to-me. It looks like you had a great time!

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  5. Sandra Nachlinger16 March 2014 at 02:32

    I enjoyed your collection of photos from the Banjo Paterson festival. Looks like it was fun!

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  6. Irene16 March 2014 at 03:48

    What a great success this must have been, I love it when an individual makes such an impact on history. I know nothing of this man, but I'll be researching. Great photos.

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  7. Sharon16 March 2014 at 07:23

    Mention Banjo Paterson and immediately you think of Rex. I didn't know much about him until I joined the Fenemor clan!!

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  8. westmetromommy16 March 2014 at 13:32

    What a fun festival!

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  9. Anonymous17 March 2014 at 01:52

    Oh, I do love Banjo ... Thanks for sharing this. Good on Orange!

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  10. Leslie (Under My Apple Tree)17 March 2014 at 07:15

    I've heard of Waltzing Matilda but little about the man who wrote it - until now.

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Thank you for commenting.