The Australian National Town Crying Championship will be held in conjunction with Kyabram’s 150th anniversary.
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The 2026 Australian championships will be in the town on November 7, 2026, with participating town criers in town from November 5.
Campaspe Shire Council and Murray River Council town crier and Ancient and Honourable Guild of Australian Town Criers (AHGATC) president Judy Campbell will host the event.
“Last time Kyabram hosted the championships it was a world invitational teams’ event,” she said.
“This time it is the Australian National Town Crying Championships.”
Ms Campbell has held the role since 1993, becoming the first officially appointed town crier for Campaspe Shire and Murray River Council.
“There was a competition in Echuca, and we had to write about the historic Port of Echuca at that time, and our voices had to carry across Hopwood Gardens, or Riverbank Dock,” she said.
“I beat all the guys and have been town crier ever since.
“You need to have volume, sustained performance and accuracy, because if you give out the wrong information and somebody was outside curfew hours and you told them the wrong time, well, that is how ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ came into being.”
Competitors from Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Victoria will participate, with a possible international entrant from England.
Criers will be judged on volume, sustained performance, accuracy, presentation, content, delivery, costume and scroll, of two different competition cries.
“One cry will be extolling the virtues of their hometown, and the second cry is the theme cry, which is the topic of Kyabram's Sesquicentennial,” Ms Campbell said.
The public is encouraged to attend the championships at Edis Park between 11am and 1pm on November 7 to vote for their favourite town crier.
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