Murrumbateman Markets Music & Culture
What a glorious market day for Murrumbateman! We ended the NAIDOC week with a “Welcome to Country” from our own Yass Valley Elder Glenda Merritt to an audience of some 650 to 700 attendees with over 60 stall holders celebrating the end of eight years of markets with yet more to come!
Glenda has her own distinctive style of art which she had on display at the markets and which attracted a great deal of interest as well as prospective sales. She was accompanied by Megan Byrne, also an artist in her own right who displayed examples of her weaving, some of which also sold on the day.
Whilst Glenda and Megan intended to simply “wave the flag” for Aboriginal reconciliation and were happy to discuss the symbolism of their art and talk about various artefacts they brought with them, they nonetheless were happy to join in the community spirit of the Murrumbateman Markets and in Glenda’s case welcomed the crowd ‘to country’.
Glenda is here showing examples (prints) of her work which are truly amazing and drew a great deal of attention, not to mention business, from the many attendees at the markets.
As always, the musos (five acts this week) provided live entertainment for those able to join in the festivities or just simply ‘veg’ with a cuppa and a chat with a local or two.
Cr Mike Reid (Roving reporter).
More music to come at Murrumbateman Markets
In spite of the weather (that threatened to disrupt proceedings at any moment) the first Murrumbateman Village Twilight Markets went ahead on the evening of 31 October with a suitably Halloween flavour. The many visitors enjoyed the variety of stalls and wares on offer and were entertained by a program of catchy music, which was a feature of the event. The patrons were serenaded by Mike Reid, Matt&Rod, The Twilight Reapers, Dave Nellen and The Grudgeons.
The headline act was the Canberra-based community outfit, ConneXion Big Band, ably directed by Justin Buckingham and fronted by well-known local vocalists Neille Williams and Tony Haley. This was the band’s first outing since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, and they were keen to put on a show comprising a range of big band standards, both traditional and modern. If you missed them, they will be performing again at a lunch hosted by the Harmonie German Club on Sunday 22 November.
The market schedule is filling up fast! Future evening markets will feature a community carols component on the 4th of December and a fresh music program on the 19th of December. This is all in addition to the regular fortnightly Saturday morning market schedule.
Bryan Hooley
