October 11, 2016
Cherbourg’s inaugural Yhurri Gurri festival was a key part of the South Burnett & Cherbourg On Show long weekend … and if the performers have their way, it won’t be the last!
The music and arts festival – Yhurri Gurri means “welcome” in Wakka Wakka – was organised at the last moment by Cherbourg radio station Us Mob as a tribute to musician Angus Rabbitt who died earlier this year.
Support came swiftly from the music community, with a string of top performers joining local acts on stage.
Roger Knox, known as the Koori King of Country, performed his hits as well as a stirring version of Mac Silva’s “Malabar Mansion”.
He also joined Mop and the Dropouts on stage for “Mother’s Eyes”, a song that Angus Rabbitt used to perform with the band.
Roger added his own touch by singing a verse in Gamilaraay.
Local performers Muddy Flats, Deadly Wayz, Steven Hart and Lillian Gray joined the line-up.
Talented up-and-coming Moree musician Billy Pitt (William Craigie) also performed on stage.
Heading the line-up was veteran performer Chad Morgan, who kept the audience laughing through his “silly” songs, but when he swapped his silly hat for a standard cowboy hat he kept his listeners spellbound with the “song that took him 50 years to write”, the “Ballad of Bill and Eva”, his Wakka Wakka and Kullilli ancestors.
Out on the oval, the Wakka Gubbi dancers performed in the centre of a circle of onlookers.
There were also art lessons for the children, and even a few mini boomerangs being tossed.
