12noon - 12.20pm
Trevor Dawson
Country Singer &
Guitarist

THINGS TO SEE & DO AT APPLAUSE

Festival Busking & Guest Artists
11am – 4pm
Dean Street & QEII Square

The Applause Street Theatre & Buskers Festival may be more compact in size this year, but the program is bigger than ever.

Dean Street will be closed to traffic from Kiewa to Olive Streets and the Festival will be held on the street and deep into QEII Square with 5 performance sites hosting a heady mix of local, national and international acts.

The event will be kicked off by local band Squidjig at 11am and followed by The Great Applause Waiter’s Race, circle show performances by guest artists, festival buskers and free workshops.

There’ll be heaps for the kids to do as well, with face painting, mask making, wonderful festival food, an indigenous activities area, piano’s to try and pavement chalk for the young artists.

“Applause is the one day of the year where we close traffic to Dean Street”, said Albury Central event coordinator, Ms Glenys Atkins “and we aim to make the most of it”.  “The way the festival will be set up this year means that parking is easily accessible and festival goers will be able to spend the day enjoying the entertainment in the shady comfort of QEII Square”. 

“Our Festival Buskers are the backbone of the day and are admirably supported by our guest artists who are this year travelling from Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart and Brisbane to join us”.  “We don’t get to see serious talent like this in our main streets very often, and our appreciation obviously shows – our guests always talk of the warmth of the Albury welcome as being a highlight of their day”.

Audience are reminded to bring their gold coins and loose change and reward all acts generously.

Amplified Stage
QEII Square

The program at the stage runs throughout the day and includes music and dance acts with something for every age group.

WIN!
Final Applause Door Prize: For your chance to win return tickets for two to Sydney, courtesy of Qantaslink, simply collect your entry form throughout the day, then pop it into the barrel at Final Applause.  But remember : You’ve got to be there to win!

FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
11am – 4pm

THE GREAT APPLAUSE WAITER’S RACE
QEII Square Concourse: 11.20am
Kicking off Applause this year is the 2nd annual Great Applause Waiter’s Race which will be called by Steve Bowen.  Can Zed Bar retain their title or will it be wrestled from them?!

Make sure you’re there to cheer on your favourite team and go into the draw to win a dinner for two.

Free “Come & Try” Circus Workshops
On the grass, QEII Square
Our traditional favourites will again be held outside on the St Mathews Church lawn.  Running every 20 minutes, children of all ages (4+) can come along and try their hand at the activities on offer.  Register on the morning.

Beatboxing Competition
Retro Cafe 12noon – 2pm
People’s Choice Winner: $100 cash + performance spot at “Final Applause” concert
Judge’s Choice Winner: $100 cash + 1 hour recording session at the M-Con
Prior registration or register on the day at the Retro Cafe Courtyard

The M-Con is pleased to be taking part in the 2009 Applause Festival with two very exciting musical events:

Pianos in the Round:
Four upright pianos will be transported from the M-Con to the outside world to be placed in a circle formation where they can be played by members of the public. By taking the pianos out to the people, the M-Con and Applause are truly taking the music to the people. The pianos will enable the general public to not only experience the wonderful world of music making, but also experience a sense of what it’s like to be a performer in the round.

Junk Percussion:
The M-Con are not only bringing body percussion, but the world of JUNK PERCUSSION to Applause. Percussion experts from the M-Con will be presenting a number of open workshops to the people of the border. Utilising junk from around the region, these workshops will transform people to the wonderful world of Junk Percussion. This is something which is not to be missed….help clean up the world with the M-Con’s JUNK PERCUSSION Team.

Fabulous Festival Food
Grab something from one of our stalls and vans in QEII Square, or take a relaxing break at one of Albury Central’s many cafes.

Chess
Enjoy a game of chess on the grass with the giant chess set

Local Aboriginal Community Activities & Display
Including story telling, face painting, basket weaving and boomerang painting

Pavement Chalk
Another festival favourite, come and make your mark on the side concourse of QEII.

Play on Wheels
Children’s Mobile Funhouse
Kiewa Street end of Dean Street

Face Painting
QEII Square – come along and be decorated for the day

Look Out & Grab a Special!
Make sure you get a copy of our flier full of great one-day-only specials from Albury Central businesses.

Mask Making
t.studio albury is coming to the Applause Festival this year bringing colour and excitement with art for all ages and abilities.  Come and create your own mask to wear around the festival, decorate with vivid colours and sparkle up your face with glitter to show off your individuality.

30 local performers including:
Emma Percy, Vestige, Phil da Silver (living statue), Alex Kendall, Yasmin Powell, Bree-Arne Chamley, Jason Kendall, Ike Faithfull and Grace & Juliet

Final Applause Concert
4pm – 6pm
QEII Square
Hosted by International Street Performer and Festival Favourite, Shep Huntley.
Featuring local band Squidjig, plus cut down performances by our guest artists and selected festival buskers.

INTRODUCING OUR GUEST ARTISTS FOR 2009

The Pitts present: Pitt Family Circus
Time : Noon & 2pm
The Pitts are a circus family from Tasmania. Their show fuses highly skilled acrobatics with unusual juggling, bizarre contortion and off-beat humour to provide a stunning and hilarious show that reminds us of the benefits of marrying strangers.....

POPEYED
Time: Noon & 2pm
“Polish your hammers and sharpen your sickles, Albury, ‘cos Russia’s No. 1 lifesaving team, Popeyed, are coming to town!  With 6 packs of steel, a swag of gold medals and more rotten jokes than you can poke an iron curtain at, PopEyed will have you see-sawing from fits of laughter to gasps of acrobatic amazmenent!”  WARNING: PopEyed accept full responsibility for your jaw hitting the floor.

Bike Boy
Time 11am & 3pm

Extreme entertainment, extreme fun!  World-renowned street entertainer and astounding performer Sean Bridges mixes amazing bicycle stunts, incredible juggling tricks and his spontaneous, zany humour to put on a thrilling, fearless and funny show.
Trained in Europe’s biggest circus and largest theme park, and performing at the extreme games, Sean has awed audiences around the world.  With experience on a variety of stages, Sean finds street performing his most exciting challenge yet.  And it is this excitement, energy and thrill that always leaves his audiences laughing for more.

Tony Roberts : Suspended in Time
Time : 1pm & 3pm

Following a UK tour, comedian, magician and escapologist Tony Roberts returns to the Applause Festival with his brand new killer show. One straight jacket, 42 feet of chain and one idiot, watch the hilarious Tony Roberts escape the impossible, suspended upside down, by his ankles, 4.2 metres above the unforgiving concrete. This is street performance at its best and at its most daring.

SQUIDJIG
Local north-east band playing traditional and contemporary Celtic folk music.
Time: 11am & kicking off Final Applause @ 4pm

SHEP HUNTLEY
New Street Show: 1pm
Final Applause Host : QEII Square 4pm – 6pm
Shep Huntley has been performing his unique street shows around the world for 14years and he’s wrapped to be coming back to Albury to present his new show.  With his blend of experience and youthful exuberance this show is guaranteed to please. We are very happy to have him back........not to be missed.!

The Marvellous June
12noon, 1.30pm & 3.30pm
"A woman you can look up to"
June a seven-foot tall, wild and wacky woman who loves to dance and romance.  June is larger than life, fearless, flirtatious, courageous and outrageous.  A warm hearted clown and social butterfly extraordinaire, June is ready to add colour and flair to any situation you can dream of or devise.

Supporting Local Charities

This year, for the second time, some of our audience reward will go straight back to our local community with 50% of the “hat” collected by our fully retained performers to be donated to Camp Quality and the remaining 50% going towards funding Applause 2010.

Albury Central & the Applause Festival
wish to thank our wonderful team of partners, sponsors, volunteers & friends.

We could not do it without you!

Performance sites will be established on the main streets of Albury with one stage, located in QEII Square providing an additional opportunity for U16's to perform.

Final Applause
A celebration of the day time performances from 4pm in QEII Square. Bring the whole family to enjoy the best of the best plus some festival favourites, before the day draws to a close at 6pm.