Yolngu clans performing evening Bunngul at 2023's Garma Festival, East Arnhem Land, NT.
Video / Supplied
The Garma Festival is an invitation from northeast Arnhem Land’s First Peoples to understand their historic mark on Australia and the world. It’s a chance to listen, learn and share space on sacred land belonging to generations dating back to Dreamtime, the beginning of the world in traditional belief.
Four days of every year, visitors are welcomed to Gulkula, one of the northernmost points of the Northern Territory, to witness the depth and complexity of Yolngu culture, one of the world’s longest-living cultures and the First People of northeast Arnhem Land.
Since 1999, the festival has been held at Gulkula, the first-ever mining enterprise founded and run by First Peoples of Australia, an endeavour sparked by Yolngu community leader, activist and Garma founder Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu.
This year’s festival opened with mourning as the first year without Yunupingu. The leader passed away in May during one of the most historic years in Australian politics and the year Garma is centred around Djambatj (Yolngu excellence). Country colours are an important signifier of where you are and the people allowing you to share a space with them. This is Gumatj Country, so Garma opens with a soft yellow glow that warms the stage for the days that follow.
Camping ground at the Garma Festival 2023. Photo / Alka Prasad
Garma is an outdoor event, which means everyone who attends is provided with a tent, a single-size air mattress and a sleeping bag. If you have a ticket, festival organisers will send you a list of what to bring and what to leave at home.
What to bring:
Sunscreen - a must
Insect repellent - you might not actually need any but it’s good to have
A pillow, blanket and a towel - also essential
A water bottle - it will be hot and you can find filling stations around the festival
Torches - electricity is not guaranteed especially in your tent
Clothing that is comfortable and weather-appropriate but also modest
A power pack - electricity and charging stations for phones and cameras are limited but available at the library and other communal areas
Garma grounds pay tribute to Yolngu leaders past and present. Photo / Alka Prasad
What to leave at home:
Garma organisers recommend leaving any expectations, prejudices, and assumptions at home. I would recommend leaving behind anything that requires electricity, although some bathroom sites do have power points which is great in a hair emergency.
Communal spaces
Because the festival is just that, prepare to line up for kai and coffee every day. There are thousands of attendees every year meaning you will be hungry or craving coffee at the same time, so make sure you line up early at mealtimes or prepare to wait for a coffee or tea order. That said, it is always well worth the wait.
Bathrooms and showers are also shared so try to get there during off-peak times, like early in the morning or during mealtimes when the crowds are preoccupied. Afternoons are also a good time. If you’re concerned about privacy, there are private facilities for females and males.
The Garma Institute library at Gulkula. Photo / Alka Prasad
A journey through Djambatj
Even with the freedom to create your own world at Garma, politics is inescapable. Political activism, engagement and agency are the foundations of Garma, as the tools that allowed iconic Yolngu leaders to establish the space and legacy that now attracts thousands of passionate individuals from all over the world every year.
While there is so much to hear and learn, there is no pressure to follow any particular path. Every step you take at Garma is a decision you have the freedom to make, knowing you will remain safe and respected by the community.
If you are looking to do as much as you can, it’s a good idea to make a plan before you get there. A few weeks before the festival, Garma releases an information book that you can find online and at the reception counter if you can’t plan ahead.
Local elders hold a traditional medicine workshop on the main grounds. Photo / Alka Prasad
Garma Grounds
The possibilities and opportunities for growth and learning at Garma are endless. The main festival grounds host local artists and businesses such as Yirralka Miyalk, a female-led social enterprise. There are plenty of opportunities to support the work of the local community through art markets, as well as Garma’s merchandise stall.
Passing through the grounds, you can stop at traditional medicine workshops and yidaki (didjeridu) healing, or listen in on discussions between community leaders on Yolngu history, goals, and values.
You can sign up for workshops such as women’s healing, an escarpment walk through the vast Gulkula escarpment and night-time astronomy sessions. Again, make a plan to make the most out of the Yolngu excellence Garma has to offer.
Gapan Gallery
Off the main Garma grounds, you can follow a quiet pathway lined with paintings to the Gapan Gallery. The open-air gallery sits across stringybark trees and exhibits local artists, from established artists to the talented students at Yirrkala School.
The outdoor Gapan Gallery at Garma. Photo / Alka Prasad
The gallery gives festival-goers an insight into the rich artistic contribution of the Yolngu people from painting to weaving to music. Visual art by renowned artist Marrnyula Mununggurr hangs across from work by musician Dimathaya Burarrwanga, a member of Yolngu band King Stingray. In the middle of the bushy grove gallery, a local weaver skilled with years of expertise sits barefoot surrounded by thin strips of pandanus leaves, more than happy to show anyone interested how to thread a pattern together.
Bunngul
An evening at Garma isn’t complete without a bunggul (dance). A flag for each northeast Arnhem clan flies proudly around the bunggul ground while spectators quietly crowd around to find the best angles to see the action.
Throat singing and the soft hum of yidaki open the stage up for clans people in their Country colours to show a global audience precise movements rehearsed through countless generations.
Kids and adults have the freedom to join in at the bunngul grounds. Photo / Alka Prasad
Country members from around northeast Arnhem Land show off their skills with dance, music, costumes and colours unique to each Country, some snapping bilma (clap sticks), each person unsettling the white sand with each step.
Dancers flash Country colours at the audience and other clan members to assert their deep pride in their community. Male dancers lead the way and carry the team to the front of the ground, while female dancers close the circle, pacing the outer edge of the ground.
After hours
The first night of Garma is christened with a fireside poetry reading with Jack Thomson, a low-vibration start to the festivities.
For those looking for more excitement, the Garma main stage gives you an opportunity to witness legendary Yolngu performers every night of the festival.
This year, the main stage kicked off with the smooth reggae beats of the Mutitjulu band from Uluru. Local band King Stingray also graced the festival this year. The performers have become legendary for local youth with their post-punk sounds mixed with politics, tradition and cultural pride.
Behind the media campsite, you can find Garma’s outdoor theatre. Every night, festival-goers have a chance to see local productions shining a light on local film-makers and narratives. This year’s festival started with a screening of Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy.
One of the many non-compulsory but highly recommended events at Garma is its Key Forum Opening, a space where community and political leaders share ideas.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Garma's opening forum. Photo / Alka Prasad
Garma ambassador and Australian actor Jack Thomson said in his tribute to Yunupingu, “All life is politics. All art is a reflection of politics and people.”
“Garma is a safe and glorious place. It is a place where opinions and views can be expressed and a place where the nation comes together for a few days.”
Thomson, a close friend of Yunupingu’s, recounted the leader’s life: “He was born at a time when the world was a different place. It was a Yolngu world and it was in order, as it had been for past millenia.”
Thomson was setting the stage for the biggest political event of the year, the Voice to Parliament referendum. The referendum is the first of its kind in Australian history. It aims to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples as the First Peoples of Australia and requires constitutional change to set up frameworks for First Peoples to be involved in government-level decision-making.
This year, Australians vote on the Voice to Parliament referendum for the recognition of First Peoples in Australia's constitution. Photo / Alka Prasad
On October 14, Australians will get to vote on whether to Recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The consensus at Garma was “Yes”.
Whether on T-shirts, posters, or graffiti on cars, all signs pointed to “Yes”. Although Garma is a celebration of everything Yolngu, politics rises to the top consistently. The contested and sacred land has been a political fight for its people.
The chairman of festival organisers the Yothu Yindi Foundation, Djawa Yunupingu, urged the crowd, “Let us have conversations that will make things right for the children that will inherit the land from us.”
At Garma, it is clear to any outsider that change is not just something to hope for. It is possible. It is worth fighting for.
Fly from Auckland to Darwin, via Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane, with Qantas, Air New Zealand or Jetstar. Then take a connecting flight from Darwin to Gove.
