The Garma Festival, held annually in the remote northeast of Arnhem Land, has become a cherished fixture in the Australian calendar, regarded as the country’s most significant Indigenous event.
It provides a unique four-day celebration of Yolngu life and culture, extending from Friday, August 4, to Monday, August 7. The festival is a crucial meeting point for clans and families from the region, as well as for broader Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities across the nation and overseas.
Hosted by the esteemed Yothu Yindi Foundation, Garma stands as a vibrant showcase for the traditional Yolngu cultural expressions of miny’tji (art), manikay (song), bunggul (dance), and storytelling. This year’s festival will hold particular national interest due to the forthcoming Referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, amplifying the resonance and importance of the dialogues taking place at Garma.
National Indigenous Television (NITV), partnered with the Yothu Yindi Foundation, will be the main broadcaster for the event, promising its most comprehensive coverage of the Garma Festival to date. For the 23rd annual festival, NITV’s team will travel to Gulkula, Gumatj Country, in North East Arnhem Land. The dedicated coverage will span across the four days, delivering updates on breaking news, speeches, debates, arts, culture, and analysis.
Leading the coverage will be NITV’s Head of Indigenous News and Current Affairs, Natalie Ahmat. Throughout the festival, Ahmat’s team will meet with business leaders, political figures, academics, and journalists to provide the audience with insight and context for the unfolding events. These discussions will contribute to a deeper understanding of the issues affecting Yolngu and other Indigenous Australians and will form an essential part of the national conversation ahead of the Referendum.
Tanya Denning-Orman, a proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman and Director of Indigenous Content at SBS, is also set to provide substantial coverage of the festival. SBS’s coverage will include live broadcasting of key events, reporting from the festival, and special multilingual coverage, allowing people from diverse backgrounds to connect with the festival.
SBS and NITV will be simulcasting several key moments of the festival, providing Australians from all walks of life the opportunity to engage with the celebration of Yolngu culture and the central conversations unfolding at Garma. This includes live panels and keynote speeches, among which is the much-anticipated address by the Prime Minister on Saturday, August 5.
Each year, the Yothu Yindi Foundation brings together Indigenous peoples, non-Indigenous Australians, and international visitors for the Garma Festival. The event serves as an intersection of visual art, ancient storytelling, dance, music, and a series of forums touching on economic, education, governance, and youth issues. These forums offer a vital platform for discussion, debate, and exchange, furthering the dialogue about issues affecting Yolngu and other Indigenous Australians.
An essential part of NITV’s broadcast will include coverage of the traditional buŋgul, a graceful ceremony marked by the women’s dance and men’s song, deeply connected to Country over sixty thousand years. Coverage will extend to a special episode of The Point: Referendum Road Trip, which will be recorded at the festival, focusing on First Nations perspectives in the lead up to the Referendum.
SBS News will also provide updates on SBS World News each night of the festival. Unique multilingual coverage will be part of SBS’s contribution, bringing all the news and action from the event to multicultural communities across Australia. This inclusive effort will feature reporters from SBS Hindi and SBS Mandarin attending Garma to deliver coverage across the SBS Audio network.
Last month, the Yothu Yindi Foundation (YYF) and NITV announced the signing of a three-year partnership that will see NITV extend its support of the Garma Festival through until the end of 2025. This commitment ensures a continuation of the platform for Indigenous voices and culture on a national level.
The 23rd annual Garma Festival promises to be a landmark event, garnering national attention and fostering deep cultural exchange.
The comprehensive coverage by NITV and SBS is set to bring the voices, stories, and culture of the Yolngu people to wider audiences, shining a spotlight on the pivotal issues facing Indigenous Australians today, especially in light of the upcoming Referendum.
