The tiny community of Barunga, 80 kilometres south-east of Katherine, underwent a population explosion in June as it hosted its highly regarded annual Bamyili festival.

Barunga’s population is normally a little over 350 but it grew to more than 4500 for the three days of the festival as people from across Australia descended on the community for three days of Indigenous culture, art and sport.

While festivals around Australia struggle to survive Barunga continues to defy the national trend due to the authenticity of the experience.

This year’s festival was the second Campaign Edge Sprout was responsible for delivering.

As was the case last year, Campaign Edge Sprout’s planning and preparation was based on a strategy of cultural awareness, inclusion and positivity.

And this was only possible because of the close cooperation and input from the local Bagala Aboriginal Corporation (BAC).

BAC had input every step of the way as Barunga ‘24 took shape, ensuring the authenticity for which the festival is renowned.

Traditional Owners wanted a high level of involvement in the event from the younger generation.

The result was on display from the opening ceremony. Festival goers got to experience an opening ceremony featuring the Barunga-Beswick White Cockatoos, which reflected the many months of practice local children had undergone working with elders learning the stories of the traditional songlines.

The group was twice the size of last year’s and once again, many children were performing in public for the first time. This year the youngest dancer was just four years old.

One of the features of this year’s Barunga Festival was the incredible contribution of the Jawoyn Association, which represents the 17 clans of the Katherine region.

Jawoyn’s level of assistance was amazing. They had more than $1 million worth of major equipment on site, including telehandlers, a 200,000 litre water truck, three mobile accommodation trailers, a mobile kitchen and a production office.

They also helped with infrastructure, becoming key to transporting generators, fencing and crucial materials to and from site.

Event co-ordinator Anya Lorimer says the Jawoyn Association went above and beyond all expectations.

“We sincerely thank each and every one from Jawoyn who went out of their way to ensure the festival was a success,” she says. “Nothing was too much trouble.”

Anya says the willingness of Jawoyn CEO John Berto and the support of association chair Lisa Mumbin showed “leadership and commitment” to the event.

Barunga Festival was marketed to a national audience with the strategy created by Campaign Edge Sprout and supported by the Northern Territory Aboriginal Tourism Strategy.

The BAC wanted to expand the sporting element of this year’s festival by having the program include a round of the Big Rivers Football League competition and, for the first time, an NT Rugby 7s youth clinic.

Anya and her team from Campaign Edge Sprout, including Liberty Bridgman, Jo Fitzpatrick, Charmaine Marquez, Jarrad Burley, Jing Jin, Melinda North and Jess Howard, worked tirelessly to put the Barunga Festival on the map nationally.

Campaign Edge Sprout won an Australian Event Award and the NT Chamber of Commerce Best Event in 2023. And our work on the Barunga Festival has also earned us the 2024 Regional Festival of the Year Award as part of the Northern Territory Music Awards and after this year’s success will qualify to represent Australia for an international cultural award.

“Delivering an iconic event like this in a remote location is challenging,” says Anya.

“This year there was a defence exercise involving more than 15 countries going on at the same time as Barunga and that stretched Territory services.

“The effort it took to find portable showers, portaloos, fencing and freight was almost impossible. We knew that without these things the event could not go ahead, but nobody seemed to doubt that we would find a solution.

“Delivering an event that has multiple sports carnivals, such as AFL, basketball and softball, arts and cultural workshops, as well as a live music with more than 130 performers, was no small task.

“Cultural workshops, weaving, spear and didgeridoo making, damper classes and a ground oven with traditional kangaroo tail, yarning circles, Barunga Junior Rangers community tours and spear throwing were all big hits with visitors.

“Experiencing Yothu Yindi live at Barunga was a definite goose bump moment. J-Milla and YUNG MILLA delivered the best performance I’ve seen to date plus the Red Flag Dancers and multiple bunguls were world class.

“Live music across two big nights and more sporting participation than previous years is shaping the event for the future. Creating opportunities and working with our sponsors also took the festival to another level.

“The entire community came out to take part in the MACC colour run. It created a huge buzz. MACC is now looking at expanding the activation to other regional schools. We thank MACC for getting onboard and working with us to deliver something both meaningful and memorable.”

Anya says Roper Gulf Shire Council also deserve special recognition for their input to the festival.

“All the effort behind the scenes is critical to the way the festival runs and how the community is presented as a whole. Liam and the crew were on the ground delivering firewood for campers, helping the site team with access to critical infrastructure and always on call to lend a hand.

“The months of preparation to hold a major event in a community can only come about through the hard work of the council and their team.

“Everything from controlled fire management, watering and maintaining ovals, rubbish removal and cleaning up in the lead-up is a huge undertaking on top of their normal function.”

With every event, there are two very different sides – front facing and visitor experience, and back-of-house production and management.

Barunga Festival 2024 was an engagement opportunity for the US Marines and the NT Administrator who visited the event and met senior elders. It also saw the launch of House of Darwin Foundation – Hoop Dreams in the NT program, which refurbished the Barunga School basketball court.

Barunga Festival is a place of important community business. Chief Minister Eva Lawler took the opportunity to meet Bagala Traditional Owners, Roper Gulf Regional Council Deputy Mayor Helen Lee and the new Barunga- Wugularr Law Culture and Justice Committee.

Anya says successfully delivering a complex event such as Barunga inevitably requires the input of industry professionals.

Jeremy Lassemillante and the team from E3 Productions delivered quality sound and lighting.

Alan James co-ordinated the music line-up of individual performers and bands. His immense knowledge of Aboriginal acts, including his experience managing Yothu Yindi for more than two decades, was obvious.

The site crew worked tirelessly and Cap22 delivered professional security coverage.

Veolia provided waste and rubbish management for the festival and didn’t miss a beat, even with this year’s maximum attendance.

Power and Water worked in with the organisers, as did all of the sponsors.

Festival volunteers ranged from traveling couples, farmers, university professionals to Maye and 16 students from Mary MacKillop Catholic College.

Campaign Edge Sprout creative team’s role included community consultation, event management, marketing and design, web and social media management, sponsorship, managing ticketing, social media, filming and photography.

The Sprout team also ran the gate, merchandise and site management.

Anya says she couldn’t be prouder of her team’s work – Liberty and the site crew stayed in the community until long after the event to ensure everything was wrapped up properly.

“We delivered the Barunga Festival with a community that is determined to keep culture strong and share it with the world.”

Barunga Festival sold out two years in a row – book online early for next year, 6-9 June 2025.