Best entertainers in Winmalee
Winmalee sits on the ridge above Springwood, and the acts that share the ridge are not the ones you'd guess. A DJ gives Winmalee itself as home, a mime is at Faulconbridge and a magician at Springwood, which is a kids' birthday and a school fete before it's a wedding. The bands start at the bottom of the hill: a cover band at Emu Plains, two more in Penrith, and Penrith's drag act, country singer, R&B singer and hula hoop performer behind them. So the ridge does the party tricks and the Nepean does the music.
One card needs a second look. Bowen Mountain shows as close as Penrith because the distances are straight lines, but it's on the far side of the Grose, so by road it's down Hawkesbury Road, across at Yarramundi and up through Grose Vale, half an hour or more. Penrith's guide covers the same pool from the bottom of the highway, and the Blue Mountains page begins where this one thins out, around Faulconbridge, before running up to Katoomba.
Top picks in Winmalee
Top picks are the nearby performers with the most visible reviews, then rating, then the closest; further afield the closest come first, and premium listings break remaining ties. Distances are straight-line from Winmalee. Ask each act whether they travel to your venue and what that costs.
Questions people ask about entertainers in Winmalee
How long is a drag show?
The Penrith drag act on this list is a short run up the highway, and the usual booking is an hour or so broken into two or three sets with a costume change between them. In a Winmalee lounge room or a hired hall the host works the crowd between numbers, which is where the night really goes. Give them somewhere to change and a proper speaker, and say whether it's a hens night or a fiftieth, because the material changes.
Do Penrith bands charge travel to Winmalee?
Not as a rule. Winmalee is a quarter of an hour up the hill from Penrith and the bands out here count Springwood and Winmalee as their own patch. A late finish on a foggy July night is the one thing that might prompt a question about the drive, so give the end time in the first message.
Is there a kids' entertainer near Winmalee?
Two of the nearest acts to Winmalee are a magician at Springwood and a mime at Faulconbridge, both a few minutes along the ridge, and both suit a backyard birthday better than any band does. Ask how long the show runs and how many kids it's built for. A mime who does street work and a party show is a different booking from a stage magician, and the price follows the format.
Booking tips
Say how old the audience is
The Springwood magician and the Faulconbridge mime both do very different rooms depending on who's in them. Put the ages in the enquiry, because a five-year-old's party and a club dinner want different shows from the same person.
Fire season changes the day
Winmalee knows bushfire season better than most suburbs. On a total fire ban the outdoor venues along the ridge can close their lawns and the highway can shut, so for a summer weekend ask the act what happens if the day is called off.
Penrith's bands come up, not across
Everything reaches Winmalee by the Great Western Highway and Hawkesbury Road, and a Penrith band treats the run as an easy one. Ask about the finish time anyway; the drive back down through Springwood in winter fog is nobody's favourite.