THE SCALE of the performance ahead of Creswick Kids Choir is not lost on young leaders Aisha and Matilda.
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Their choir is preparing to open CresFest with Aboriginal artist Kutcha Edwards singing the reimagined Australian national anthem that he helped create with The Seekers' Judith Durham.
Matilda said Edwards had also performed the revised version at Uncle Archie Roach's state memorial service at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl late last year.
When it came to big performances - the choir had opened the inaugural CresFest last year as well - Matilda said they were well practised in being professional.
She also liked the revised national anthem, even if sometimes she muddled up the words when singing the national anthem at school.
Creswick Kids Choir, under director Stella Savy, practises singing in lots of different languages and varying cultural music styles, which Matilda said was fun.
They are also preparing to share the stage with the Creswick Chorus, an adult ensemble, at the festival.
"I joined the choir because I wanted to learn new songs and perform in front of people," Matilda said. "I wanted to belong to a group and one that I liked and have fun."
Fellow choir leader Aisha also encouraged other young people to get involved and join their group.
They have young primary school pupils through to high schoolers from across the town getting involved, dancing and having fun singing in full voice together.
For anyone thinking of jetting involved Aisha advised to "definitely say yes" because there were lots of songs she had never heard about before that were "actually really good".
"I joined it because I love music a lot," Aisha said. "I was not really into this music - I'm more into older stuff...I've been listening to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers since I was six or seven - but I love both [kinds of music] now."
Creswick Kids Choir will officially open the packed three-day festival at Creswick Town Hall on Friday evening, March 31, before returning to action on Market Stage on the Saturday afternoon.
Kutcha Edwards, a Mutti Mutti man and Stolen Generations survivor, will also perform at Creswick Primary School on Saturday and run a courthouse workshop session on Sunday.
CresFest will feature a wealth of local, national and international music artists along with Courthouse Conversations, food, markets, busking and a night light display in what is billed as a bumper program with something for everyone to enjoy.
CresFest runs from March 31 to April 2.
Details: cresfest.com.au.
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