IN BRIEF
- The opening night of Garma Festival will feature a community screening of Bluey episodes in Yolŋu Matha language.
- Five episodes have been translated into Yolŋu Matha and voiced by local Yolŋu community members.
Garma Festival gathers the best and brightest to Gumatj Country every year — and this year there's an extra special guest.
Australia's favourite dog, Bluey, has her paws on the red dirt and is cuddling up with the crowds in a special celebration of the show's recent Yolŋu Matha episodes.
Premiered during NAIDOC Week, five episodes of the iconic children's cartoon were translated to Yolŋu Matha and voiced by Yolŋu community members.
In celebration, Garma Festival will screen the episodes on site on Friday night, with the guest of honour in attendance.
For young Gika Yunupingu, it's a very exciting day.
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"I like Bluey," he told NITV.
He couldn't stop smiling, cuddling up to the human-sized blue heeler for a photo.
"Having Bluey here has made everyone excited," his dad Winston Yunupingu said.
"Everyone is excited to see her and to get around her and be together."
He believes the Yolŋu Matha episodes will do his community proud.
"It's very important for the kids here, and the ones that are coming up. It's important for non-Indigenous kids to watch as well and to learn about Gove," he said, referencing the Gove Peninsula, where Garma is held.
Kenisha Black is in her senior years at high school. But she's just as much a fan of Bluey as the younger kids.
Being able to watch Bluey in Yolŋu Matha gives her a deep sense of pride in her culture and language.
"It means so much to me, and it makes me so proud," she said.
"I'm glad the young kids have it. I wish I had it when I was younger."
For Lulu Sutherland, the translated episodes are a meaningful step in the sharing of Yolŋu culture with the nation.
"It's really good having Bluey in Yolŋu Matha because all the local kids can watch it in their own language, without having to translate it into English," she said.
"Yolŋu culture is really important for this world ... if it is shared across Australia that will be for the better."
'Bluey has become a shared language'
The translated episodes are the result of a partnership between Yolŋu Radio, the Aboriginal Resource Development Services (ARDS), the Australian Broadcasting Association and Ludo Studio.
"Bluey has become a shared language for families right across Australia, so to hear these stories told in Yolŋu Matha, languages spoken on this continent for thousands of generations, is incredibly special," said ARDS co-CEOs Julia Wormer and Sylvia Nulpinditj.
The five episodes translated into Yolŋu Matha were chosen specifically for their themes of family and Country and each episode was produced on Country at Yolŋu Radio's studio in northeast Arnhem Land.
They also feature the voices of the local community.
Bluey's dad, Bandit, is voiced by Dimathaya Burarrwanga, one of the founding members of Yolŋu surf rock band King Stingray and Bluey's mum, Chilli, is voiced by Yolŋu educator Rosie Mununggurr.
Grandad is voiced by respected Yolŋu Elder and musician Andrew Gurruwiwi, and the siblings Bluey and Bingo were voiced by local Yolŋu children.
Bluey will hit the big screen at Garma Festival at 8.30 pm, after the evening Buŋgul ceremony and a live broadcast of the AFL match between the Western Bulldogs and Fremantle.
NITV and SBS will have extensive coverage from the Garma Festival beginning Friday 31 July and concluding Monday 3 August. You can watch on SBS and NITV and SBS On Demand.
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