General News
2 October, 2023
Youth bands and performers, volunteers needed for 2023 Energy Breakthrough
Maryborough’s beloved Energy Breakthrough (EB) is gearing up for its comeback this November, and with less than two months left, locals still have plenty of opportunities to get on board. While planning for the town’s flagship program, now in...
Maryborough’s beloved Energy Breakthrough (EB) is gearing up for its comeback this November, and with less than two months left, locals still have plenty of opportunities to get on board.
While planning for the town’s flagship program, now in its 31st year, is still underway, organisers have begun putting call-outs for interested community members to support the event — with one such opening for young people wishing to perform on the FReeZA stage.
Part of EB for the first time in 2022, FReeZA, a State Government funded initiative, will set up a live youth music platform again this year and locals between the ages of 12 to 25 are being encouraged to participate.
“We’ll have a stage area where young performers can come and give performing a go,” Central Goldfields Shire Council’s FReeZA coordinator Audrey Bartlett said.
“It could be solo singing, it could be a duo or band performance or it could be deejaying — it’s about giving younger artists an opportunity to perform in public and it’s also a great chance to make money because this is a paid gig.
“What we want is for people to get that experience, it could also be their first performance ever or they could be more experienced, it doesn’t matter, it’s about promoting that performing arts space within the community’s younger artists.”
Last year, with seven bands, the FReeZA stage was a roaring success and Ms Bartlett hopes to see the same outcome this time around.
“We had two stages in the previous year and it was actually really good, it leant a different atmosphere to EB,” she said.
“With the event as well, we had a big audience ready to watch and cheer on the performers and I’m hoping this year we’ll not only get new artists but also more people to come out.
“I think overall it’s such an empowering opportunity — we’d love to hear from young people who have any musical or performing talent that they would like to share with the rest of the shire.”
Alongside FReeZA, other works are also ramping up for the rest of the event and EB Governance Group member, councillor Liesbeth Long urged residents to join on as volunteers.
“We always need support, we could not run this event if we did not have volunteers and EB is so important for our town because it brings in so many benefits,” she said.
“I volunteer myself and I absolutely love it. I get more out of volunteering than what EB gets out of me — it’s such a great atmosphere.
“There’s a lot of different things that people can do and they can do as much or as little as they want, it’s very flexible. Whatever time people can spare is gratefully accepted and so I think everyone should really consider coming on because we need tons of volunteers to make this happen.”
Energy Breakthrough will be held over five days from November 22 to 26 and a more detailed program will be released in the coming weeks.
For more information about the FReeZA stage or to participate, contact Audrey Bartlett on AudreyB@cgoldshire.vic.gov.au or 0418 536 517, before November 10.
To volunteer or register your interest as a vendor, visit eb.org.au — exhibitors and food vendor applications will close this Friday on October 6.