Discover Indigenous NSW This Australia Day

Yabun Entertainment

This Australia Day, discover life of the traditional land owners at Australia's premier one-day Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander festival. Yabun is the celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture in the country. Held annually on Australia Day, upon the traditional lands of the Gadigal people at Victoria Park, Camperdown, the “all ages”, family friendly festival showcases some of the best Indigenous music talent along with some of Australia's leading artists, authors, and most influential members.

Now in its 13th year, Yabun, meaning 'music to a beat' is a celebration of survival and a day of sharing and showcasing the diverse Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures on the national day. Dancers from across the country will take to the Corroboree Ground, performing exciting and graceful moves that have been practiced for centuries.

The Yabun festival will present some of the best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music from around the country. The main stage will be feature Jimblah (Larrakia) who hit the music scene as the Inaugural winner of the Hilltop Hoods Initiative and who has previously featured as triple j Unearthed Artist of the Week. The young sensation Dean Brady who stole Australia's heart in 2013 on Australia's Got Talent along with Benny Walker (Yorta Yorta) and Stephen Pigram (Yawuru/Jabirr-Jabirr) whowill also headline this year's Yabun Festival.

For those keen to explore Aboriginal tours and attractions in Sydney and NSW here are some great suggestions:

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Aboriginal Heritage Tour

Enjoy a journey of discovery in Sydney's beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens. Uncover the rich Aboriginal heritage of the area with a tour guided by the garden's Aboriginal Education Officers, including Clarence Slockee from the Mindjingbal clan from north coast NSW. Explore plant uses, Aboriginal culture, artefacts, and taste some bush foods along the way. The tour finishes at The First Farm & Cadi Jam Ora, a display garden planted with the very different plants used by local Cadigal people and those planted by the first European settlers.
The Rocks Dreaming Aboriginal Heritage Tour

Sydney's The Rocks is where the history of modern Australia began. 

Here on this stubby peninsula, the first European settlers established themselves more than two centuries ago. The area has a very different significance for Aboriginal Australians, as relayed during The Rocks Dreaming Aboriginal Heritage Tour. Led by an Aboriginal guide, the 90-minute walking tour offers an intimate, revealing portrait of the area's original inhabitants, the Cadigal people, their heritage and their deeply spiritual connection with the natural world of Sydney Harbour and its surrounds.
EcoTreasures, Northern Beaches Cultural Heritage Tour

The Northern Beaches Cultural Heritage Tour 

is a walking tour that takes in rock art and engraving sites in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Visitors also learn about traditional native bush medicines and bush tucker, track native animals and find out about some of Australia's dangerous snakes and spiders on the one-day tour, with plenty of stimulation for the mind as well as the body.
Bangarra Dance Theatre

Dance is a powerful traditional medium of artistic expression for many Aboriginal people 

and the Bangarra Dance Theatre is Australia's most exciting Aboriginal dance company. Backed by an all-Aboriginal cast of writers, directors and performers, Stephen Page, Bangarra's choreographer and artistic director, digs deep into his culture to orchestrate powerful performances that explore contemporary Aboriginal social themes.
Aboriginal Blue Mountains Walkabout

A full-day tour winding through the beautiful and secluded Blue Mountains rainforest gully, 

along the trail of an original songline. Body painting, Aboriginal songlines, bush food, native animals and storytelling are woven together to make this a magical tour, set against a backdrop of rainforest and mountain streams.
Tri State Safaris/Mutawintji Eco Tours

Small-group tours take visitors to the sandstone peaks of Mutawintji National Park. 

A centrepiece of the park is the Bynguano Range, where waterholes have created a virtual oasis for the local Aboriginal people, who left many examples of their art inscribed on the rock walls. The finest examples of this rock art are found in the Mutawintji Historic Site, a restricted area that can be visited only on a guided tour. Mutawintji was the first national park in NSW to be returned to Aboriginal custodianship, bringing further significance to this Aboriginal-guided tour.
Yiribana Gallery, Art Gallery of NSW

Sydney offers many opportunities to see contemporary and traditional Aboriginal art and artefacts. 

At the Art Gallery of NSW, the Yiribana Gallery is one of the largest spaces in Australia dedicated exclusively to indigenous art and sculpture. Rover Thomas, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Long Tom Tjapanangka and Ginger Riley Munduwalawala are among the leading artists represented in the permanent exhibition.

Yabun Festival

For more information on attractions and experiences in NSW, visit www.visitnsw.com and www.sydney.com

For more information visit yabun.org.au