Children's band hire in Australia: the complete guide

A children's band plays a concert. That sounds obvious until you realise most people booking one are actually imagining a party host with a speaker, and the two jobs are not the same at all. This is live music written for small humans, performed by musicians, with songs that build and a set that has a shape.

Prices below come live from the acts listed here. The thing to settle before you enquire is what you want the hour to be, because a band will give you a show and a host will run your party, and booking one while picturing the other is the mistake this page exists to prevent.

Do this first and do it every time. These performers work in front of other people's children, often at schools, libraries and council events where the paperwork is a condition of entry anyway. Every state and territory runs its own check with its own name and its own card, and a band that tours across borders may need more than one.

So ask which ones each performer holds, ask them to send it through, and match the name on the card against the person who walks in. Being listed on this site proves nothing about that, because we run no checks on anybody at all. It is your job to do, it takes one line in an email, and a professional will send it back without a second thought.

Live city figures are in the table below. Only a minority of these acts publish a starting figure, so read the table as a rough signpost and plan on sending a few enquiries before you know your real number. A solo performer with a guitar and a four piece with a full setup both sit in this category, and they price nothing alike.

What moves a quote is the number of performers, the length of the show, whether they bring sound and lighting, and travel. School and council bookings often cost more than a birthday party for the same hour, because they carry documentation, insurance paperwork and a bigger audience.

The shape of a band set is musical. An opening song that gets everyone on their feet, a few that teach a movement or an action, something silly in the middle, a quiet one to bring the room down, and a big finish. Children join in constantly, but the band drives the hour rather than reacting to it.

A party entertainer runs games, manages the cake, hands out prizes and deals with the child who does not want to participate. Some children's bands do a bit of that too and will say so. If what you need is somebody to run the whole party, look at the children's entertainer listings instead and save yourself a mismatch.

Toddlers and preschoolers want repetition, actions, and songs they can predict. They will happily hear the same chorus four times and they need very little narrative. Early primary want jokes, a bit of story, and songs where something surprising happens. From around nine upward the audience gets self conscious and a band pitched at five year olds dies quickly.

Put the ages and the numbers in your very first message, ahead of anything about money. The acts worth having will rebuild the set list around what you tell them, and you can hear whether they bother in the reply that comes back. A band that answers identically whatever ages you name has already shown you the show you would be getting.

Most of these acts bring a PA, a couple of microphones and sometimes a small light or two. They need a power point, a flat area to set up on and a clear floor in front of them for children to sit on. Half an hour before the show for setting up is normal and worth building into your timing.

Outdoors at a fete or a family day, ask specifically about power and shade. Battery systems exist and plenty of acts have them, but it needs saying in advance. Ask too whether they do repeated short sets rather than one long show, because at a public event the audience turns over every ten minutes and a single structured hour is the wrong format.

Which working with children checks do you hold, and can I see them? How many performers are coming? How long is the show and what happens in it? Where will you plug in, and how much floor do you want kept clear? And do you have public liability cover, because a school or council will ask for it in writing?

One more that saves a difficult afternoon: ask what they do with a child who is frightened or refuses to join in. Every show has one, and the answer separates the performers who have done hundreds of these from the ones who have played a dozen.