Narrandera’s Narrungdera Earth Fest has been hailed as a resounding success by locals and visitors.

The three-day Aboriginal cultural festival was sponsored by Narrandera Shire Council, Bendigo Bank and the Building Better Regions Fund (Round 4).

Praise was heaped on the local Wiradjuri sisters Rosie Powell and Angela Galluzzo from Prickly Lizard Events who were the joint coordinators of the event.

The program included the opening event, Gawaymbahna (welcome in Wiradjuri language) on Friday at the Narrandera Fisheries Centre, which featured a smoking ceremony, a traditional welcome dance and a mayoral civic welcome, followed by a bush tucker lunch by Uncle Michael Lyons.

Mrs Powell described the Music on the Marrambidy event which took place on Friday evening at Koori Beach as a “beautiful family night”.

“Across the board, all the events were great, but special mention must go to the Friday night event which had a couple of performers, art installations, fire buckets and traditional food,” Mrs Powell said.

“There were about 400 people there even though the weather was cold.

“We had the didgeridoo competition and that showed just how talented the locals and visiting Aboriginals are.”

Mrs Powell was delighted that the program attracted hundreds of people to each event during the three days of festivities.

“It was just amazing, we had locals and people from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hay, Barooga and from all over,” she said.

“The whole weekend was fantastic and it was well supported.

“On the Saturday there was a cultural day at Narrandera Showground and there were different people coming in, in between the football games, and the Sunday lunch with the celebrity chef proved to be really popular.

“We had Elders there and community groups – I think we had children from seven schools there, so about 250 people attended.

“It was amazing to see, with lots of different people travelling and staying in the area and joining in.”

Mrs Powell said she had received much feedback on the event – all positive.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to has said they absolutely loved it and they can’t wait for the next one,” she said.

“There was lots of great feedback from young and old, which was good, because sometimes it’s just from the parents but it came from lots of different age groups.

“I’ve had multiple messages and emails from people saying how great it was and that the Council should look into having it again next year.

“It was grant-funded but we would love to have it again if the grants came around again.”

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 26 May 2022.