Key facts
- The Tiwi Islands Annual Football Art Sale coincides each year with the Tiwi Islands Football Grand Final at Nuiu on Bathurst Island. The Final is one of the Territory’s most eagerly anticipated sporting-events with many players electing to play barefoot.
- The Freedom Festival celebrates the walk-off from Wave Hill cattle station in 1966 which was the beginning of the modern land rights movement and one of the most significant events in Australian history. Freedom Day is the name given by the Kalkarindji in
- NAIDOC Week (National Aboriginal & Islander Day Observance Committee) is a national week of celebrations and remembrances. Held each year throughout Australia, NAIDOC is a celebration of the uniqueness of Indigenous traditions and cultures.
Full story
The spirit of Indigenous culture comes alive through the celebrations and festivals of its people.
Music, song and dance are a very important part of Indigenous life and customs. Dances tell the stories of ancestral heroes, family links and clan rights and are passed down from one generation to another, along with songs recounting the history of their lives. There are songs for healing the wounded and the sick, injuring the enemy, bringing rain, arresting floods or causing the wind to turn back.
Ceremonial performances are seen as the core of cultural life, bringing together song, dance, body decoration, sculpture and painting. And, it is traditional to perform at large ceremonial gatherings, so today’s modern festivals are a natural evolution from that.
These celebrations bring elders and the young together to proudly show the ancient movements of their country, keeping living cultures and traditions. Some are traditional festivals; others more modern fusions of music and dance – featuring high profile contemporary Indigenous artists and groups, but also drawing a large non-Indigenous crowd. Sport is also embraced by Aboriginal communities and is a feature event at some festivals.
They range from smaller community festivals held around Australia each year in remote communities to major Aboriginal festivals attracting visitors from around the globe.
Immerse yourself in the living cultural traditions of the Dreaming and experience the full richness and variety of Aboriginal Australia at its celebrations.
Uniquely Australian
Major festivals:
- A spectacular celebration of Cape York and Torres Strait Islander culture, the Laura Dance and Cultural Festival is held every second year in June at the Laura Dance grounds, about 300kms north-west of Cairns in the Cape York region. Organised by the Ang-gnarra Aboriginal Corporation, the festival unites communities in the Cape York region for a weekend of song, dance and celebration. The festival draws visitors from around the world keen to witness almost 1,000 performers share traditional song, music and dance, displays of arts and crafts, and cultural workshops with Elders. There are also guided tours to the nearby world-famous Quinkan Rock Art sites and a Night Walk for Reconciliation.
- Held every second year on Thursday Island, the Torres Strait Cultural Festival celebrates the region’s rich culture. Festival activities include a lively street parade, traditional dancing and music, art and craft stalls and an island feast. The island bustles with traditional dancing and music from different island communities, and stalls selling shell jewellery, baskets and drums. Don’t miss a visit to the island’s Gab Titui Cultural Centre, where you can see displays of art and artefacts, purchase work from local artists, or take a workshop.
- Get down and funky at Australia’s youngest Indigenous celebration. The Dreaming Festival is a vibrant, exciting three day festival held each June in a picturesque valley in south east Queensland at Woodford, near the beautiful Sunshine Coast hinterland. The location is surrounded by natural bushland with plenty of native wildlife and a superb view of the Glass House Mountains. Performing arts venues, bars, ceremony grounds, traditional healing, galleries, rituals and campfire story circles meld with stalls, workshops and food outlets. The festival emphasis is on performance, wowing audiences with a showcase of entertainers, black comedians, musicians, dancers and speakers, and celebrating Indigenous cultures from around the world. It’s a comprehensive showcase of contemporary Indigenous artists from across the country and around the world.
- The Garma Festival is regarded as Australia’s major Indigenous cultural exchange. Garma is an opportunity to share knowledge and culture of Indigenous Australia by experiencing and being directly involved in a spectacular display of cultural practice and cross cultural learning, a unique line up of entertainment, education and real cultural interaction. Probably the best known Indigenous cultural event, the Garma Festival attracts around 20 local clan groups as well as international visitors. Held each August at Gulkula, it’s designed to encourage the practice, preservation and maintenance of traditional dance, art and ceremony in North East Arnhem Land.