THIS year’s Womin Djeka Balnarring Ngargee festival is shaping up to be one of the Mornington Peninsula’s finest celebrations of Indigenous culture and a family-friendly community event.
The annual festival began five years ago to recognise and honour First Peoples cultures and involve the community in caring for and learning with country.
The festival is presented by Balnarring Pre-School, joint winner in 2021 of the Narragunnawali Award which recognises outstanding reconciliation initiatives in schools and early learning centres.
Committee member Kate Rennie said the day would feature a diversity of sounds and cultural experiences with singers, multiple First Nations musicians, performers, dance groups, cultural workshops and market stalls.
Ms Rennie said all performers shared a commitment to reconciliation and respect for coming together and sharing cultural heritage through music, dances, arts and crafts, stories, and experiences.
The festival will open with John Wayne Parsons, a Yugarra and Ugar high baritone who enjoys all types of music and has provided backing vocals for various artists including Uncle Archie Roach’s album Into the Blood Stream, and was a member of the gospel choir, The Cafe at the Gates of Salvation.
Welcome to Country will be delivered by N’arwee’t Dr Carolyn Briggs AM, a Boon Wurrung senior elder and the chairperson and founder of the Boon Wurrung Foundation.
Dr Briggs has been involved in developing and supporting opportunities for Indigenous youth and Boon Wurrung culture for over 50 years.
Other performers include Bart Willoughby, who is noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, the Murrundaya Dancers, the Indigenous Outreach Project, Dave Arden and Band, Michael Waugh, Deniece Hudson and Western Creations.
There will be children’s activities, food stalls, cultural workshops and craft stalls.
Womin Djeka Balnarring Ngargee will be held 10am to 7pm on Saturday 19 March at Roberstons Park and Camping Reserve, Balnarring Beach.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 15 March 2022
