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  • Streets of Your Town goes to the outback Laura Races on Cape York in far-north Queensland
    2025/07/05

    Three hours drive from Cairns in the vast wilderness of Cape York in far-north Queensland, is a little town called Laura.

    And for 128 years, this little town that is not much more than a roadhouse and a pub has hosted the annual Laura Amateur Turf Club Race meeting, attracting jockeys, horses and racegoers from all over the state.

    Fans and competitors alike come from hundreds of kilometres around to take part in what has grown into an internationally known race, rodeo and campdraft event, all surrounded by a huge bush camp thronging with 3000 fans gathering for the weekend’s festivities. Tickets to this year’s event on the last weekend of June completely sold out.

    On this episode of Streets of Your Town, we’ll meet some of the amazing bush characters and rodeo riders that keep this annual tradition alive, and even a couple of the journos who keep on top of their 150,000 kilometre patch of wild outback country to report what’s going on for their treasured Cape York Weekly readership - in one of the few print editions of a weekly regional newspaper left in Queensland.

    You'll the legendary 80 year old former jockey Slick Davies - who now acts as the caretaker all year round for the Laura racetrack, so that it’s ready for its annual moment of race day glory. He was kind enough to speak to me just before the Laura Races, from the verandah of his house overlooking the track he takes so much pride in.

    Slick is joined by his old mate Bluey Forsyth - who’s called the Laura Races and many others on the country horse racing circuit in Queensland’s far-north for decades. I love how you can hear their close mateship reflected in their conversation…

    Then of course there are the rodeo riders like Anthony Ryan who make this annual event such a spectacle.

    Shandelle Hilditch talks to us too - she's competed in campdraft and rodeo events on the circuit since she was a child, and now takes great pride in her children taking part as well.

    Spending the weekend at the Laura Races and Rodeo has shown me not only what a great event this is for bringing together locals from all around the far flung reaches of this remote stretch of far-north Queensland, but it’s also shown me the cultural importance of keeping this Australian tradition alive.

    As shown by the presence of two reporters from the Cape York Weekly - the editor Lyndon Keane and journo Chisa Hasegawa, who reported extensively on the event. We talk to them in this special edition nod to my Journo Project series.

    Thanks to all the characters who I met at the Laura Races Rodeo and campdraft who you can hear in this order:

    • Laura Racetrack caretaker Slick Davies and race caller Bluey Forsyth from 2:53
    • International professional bull rider Anthony Ryan from 13:59
    • Legendary campdraft and rodeo rider Shandell Hilditch 18:38
    • Cape York Weekly journo Chisa Hasegawa and editor Lyndon Keane from 24:25

    You can read the latest happenings in this remote corner of the world at the Cape York Weekly here: https://capeyorkweekly.com.au/

    For more shownotes and links - please go to my substack for this episode at soyt.substack.com

    https://www.eatlocalmonth.com.au/

    nancehaxton.com.au

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    37 分
  • Kate Baggerson on Everybody Now and the importance of creativity in our everyday lives
    2025/07/04

    There are some conversations that take you to places you never expected, and this one on the banks of the Brisbane River in Brisbane’s cultural precinct was certainly one of them.

    This chat with Kate Baggerson I hope will inspire you to be more creative in your everyday life, as it did for me.

    The executive director of Everybody Now is celebrating the tenth year of this unique arts organisation which harnesses the power of storytelling, creativity and artistic collaboration to make art with impact all around Australia and now overseas.

    To mark the anniversary year, Kate Baggerson tells us on Streets of Your Town how Everybody Now is doing a year-long program of events collaborating with artists, community members and organisations across the country, celebrating the power of art as a catalyst for social cohesion, and to improve our wellbeing.

    Upcoming dates for Everybody Now productions in its tenth anniversary year 2025 include:

    2–4 July: ‘Tin Can Radio’ at Mackay Festival.

    19 July: Ipswich Civic Centre 50th Anniversary concert event.

    September: ‘Artist in Place’ Residency 2 creating immersive soundscapes with Kombumerri man Lann Levinge.

    October: ‘Artist in Place’ Residency 3 Home Stories with award-winning puppeteer and theatre artist Ros Oades.

    September - October: Artist-led workshop ‘Creative and Connected’ to generate social connection and wellbeing.

    November: ‘A Place to Belong’ - a new collaboration between Everybody NOW! and UK based global design sensation Morag Myerscough.

    29 November: Art in the Park - Everybody NOW’s annual, open and accessible Art in the Park event

    For more shownotes and links - please go to my substack for this episode at soyt.substack.com

    https://www.eatlocalmonth.com.au/

    nancehaxton.com.au

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    22 分
  • Olivier Boudon and Theresa Scholl on the beauty and amazing produce of the Scenic Rim
    2025/05/25

    There’s a little patch of paradise in Queensland’s south-east corner - in some ways not far away from the big city lights of Brisbane, but when you get there, you feel like you could be at the end of the earth.

    The Scenic Rim spans more than four thousand kilometres with landscapes ranging from lush rainforests to rolling paddocks and serene lakes, with stunning views and an increasingly world renowned foodie scene.

    This June is Scenic Rim’s Eat Local Month - and Streets of Your Town is taking you there to the cornucopia of pleasures on offer from the region’s farmers, who are increasingly teaming up with local chefs to create unique experiences from farm to plate.

    Eat Local Month is a great opportunity to meet the makers - as I did at the launch of the event to whet the appetite for the 100 unique culinary experiences just an hour’s drive from Brisbane and the Gold Coast that fill June with joy - ranging from a Long Lunch under the Jacarandas to High Tea and Cocktails in the Rainforest.

    So sit down with me and Executive Chef and Owner of restaurant Roastbeef and the Frog Olivier Boudon, and then Theresa Scholl from Valley Pride Produce to hear about how they are diversifying into agritourism and making meaningful connections with customers right on the farm.

    For more shownotes and links - please go to my substack for this episode at soyt.substack.com

    https://www.eatlocalmonth.com.au/

    nancehaxton.com.au

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    17 分
  • Join Fiona Shepherd on a Glasgow Music City Tour
    2025/05/11

    Recently I spent a gloriously rare fine day in Glasgow for Streets of Your Town, wandering around the city’s renowned concert halls and gig venues with music journo Fiona Shepherd - who’s also the co-founder and lead guide of Glasgow Music City Tours.

    She’s been taking tourists back stage around Glasgow’s renowned live scene for ten years now, sharing many stories from decades past right up to the present about the iconic performers who have come to the city to perform, or who made their big debut here.

    And even though Australia is about as far away from Glasgow as you can get - she hears that rich vein of musical influence clearly - going both ways across the seas.

    So come get your walking shoes on and join Fiona and I at the celebrated Glasgow live venue King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, to chat about how Glasgow became so celebrated that it became one of the first three cities in the world to be given the title of UNESCO City of Music.

    For more shownotes and links - please go to my substack for this episode at soyt.substack.com

    https://glasgowmusiccitytours.com/

    nancehaxton.com.au


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    19 分
  • Graham MacKenzie on taking Scottish folk music to the world with Assynt
    2025/03/16

    On my recent travels through the UK and Ireland for Streets of Your Town, I was amazed to find how strong the cross pollination between Australian and Indigenous music and Gaelic traditions were, and how it continues to evolve.

    While I was in Glasgow, I was lucky enough to meet Graham Mackenzie from award winning instrumental folk trio Assynt. Sitting in his Glasgow living room, his fiddle sits between us, never far from his thoughts, as we chat about the band's recent Australian tour.

    The band launched in 2018, and had long held aspirations to play in Australia. Even the pandemic - while delaying their plans - couldn’t hold them back for long, and last year they came to the Woodford Folk Festival to perform and do workshops. The trio also toured down the East Coast on a hectic trip for the Festival of Small Halls.

    Inspired by the great piping, fiddle and Gaelic traditions of the Highlands where he grew up in Inverness, McKenzie’s self-penned melodies for Assynt have a contemporary edge while rooted in centuries-long musical traditions.

    Graham tells us on Streets of Your Town how he is relieved to find their workshops and performances both in Scotland and Australia are now filled with young people embracing their fiddles and traditional Celtic instruments, and wanting to pick up tips.

    One of his favourite aspects of coming to Australia was hearing First Nations performers at Woodford Folk Festival, seeing it as a rare opportunity for two age-old cultures to learn from each other.

    For more shownotes - please go to my substack for this episode at soyt.substack.com

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    16 分
  • Dingle poet Tim Hanafin on the cultural ties between Ireland's west coast and Australia
    2024/12/25

    For this episode of Streets of Your Town, wander with me Nance Haxton to County Kerry on Ireland's west coast, to discover how close Australian and Irish cultural traditions are beyond the musical sphere.

    Tim Hanafin has lived in Kerry all of his 85 years, in a tiny village called Inch. The town is still known by many as the location where the epic Oscar-winning movie Ryan’s Daughter was filmed, putting County Kerry on the tourist trail in the 1970s.

    Tim is known throughout the Dingle Peninsula as the man who recites poetry from a deep well of decades of learning, with a poem appropriate for every event, whether it be wedding, funeral or spontaneous celebration.

    When I speak to him in front of a cosy fire at Foley’s Bar overlooking the miles of sand dunes constantly evolving on Inch Beach, it doesn’t take long for the Australian influence on this far-flung county to appear from his extensive back catalogue of poetry.

    Tim tells us how he thinks the affinity the Irish have with Australians goes back to the days of British rule, and continues to be expressed to this day.

    and for more shownotes please go to my substack for this episode at soyt.substack.com

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    29 分
  • Vidya Makan on making her dreams come true in Hamilton
    2024/12/12

    It’s not often that we get to watch a musical star on the rise. A performer whose passion and talent has enabled them to rise from tentative beginnings to starring in one of the world’s most beloved musicals.

    Here on Streets of Your Town, we’ve been lucky enough to watch Vidya Makan’s singing and writing prowess be recognised over a few short years.

    We first met her in the pivotal role of Catherine Parr in the juggernaut Australian production of Six, then as the creator, writer and performer in her musical The Lucky Country at Hayes Theatre in Sydney, and now we catch up with her again in one of the most competitive and sought after roles around the world - as Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton.

    And for those who can’t get to Sydney for this run, make sure you watch ABC TV on December 20 at 730pm or the digital broadcast on Iview, to see Vidya’s part in A Very Musical Christmas, recorded in Sydney and with all proceeds going to mental health charity Beyond Blue.

    Her greatest joy is watching her fellow performers shine. Sit back and enjoy our chat on Streets of Your Town, with Vidya Makan.

    and for more shownotes please go to my substack for this episode at https://soyt.substack.com/p/makan-creamer-mcgrady

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    23 分
  • Alinta McGrady on creating the play Eat Slay Zombie
    2024/11/09

    If you thought that a play about post-apocolyptic zombies couldn’t be compatible with meaningful and hilarious social commentary and analysis of colonial occupation, then you haven’t heard of the radical new production Eat, Slay Zombie.

    Emerging First Nations playwright Alinta McGrady tells us on this episode of Streets of Your Town how she took her idea born in covid lockdown and created this fast-paced action packed show that is about to open in one of Brisbane’s most prestigious theatres.

    This is just the start for this talented Aboriginal woman who has been storytelling in various forms her entire life.

    Eat Slay Zombie shines a spotlight on modern Blak and queer experiences through a horror/comedy lens, with a fresh take on the hero narrative that places historically marginalised characters at the forefront of a dangerous world.

    Will our Blak women heroes survive this nightmare, and navigate a world that is actively trying to kill them?

    Let’s sit down for a chat with Alina to get some insight into her creative process….

    and for more shownotes on Alinta please go to my substack on this episode at https://soyt.substack.com/p/makan-creamer-mcgrady

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    13 分