TRANSCRIPT
"So it's a great honour to welcome you all here today..”
Around 2,000 people each year descend on Gulkula, a sacred place perched on top of an escarpment on the lands of the Gumatj clan in the Northern Territory.
They are here for the Garma festival, the largest cultural exchange on the First Nations calendar.
The 2025 theme is ‘Rom ga Waŋa Wataŋu, or ‘The Law of the Land, Standing Firm’ in one of the local Aboriginal languages, Yolŋu Matha.
The word 'Garma' means "two-way learning process" - and it's an invitation for non-Indigenous leaders to meet with and listen to First Nations voices on issues affecting them.
Visitors are given a traditional welcome before guests are invited to the Bunggul ceremonial grounds, for the ritual opening ceremony.
It's the start of a four-day festival with a packed schedule of agenda-setting political discussions and cultural celebrations.
The annual event was conceived by the Yothu Yindi Foundation with the aim of improving standards of living for all First Nations people, as the late Djawa Yunupingu explained at the 22nd Garma festival:
"As I have said many times, all of our countrymen are linked together by our songlines. These songlines join us all and though so much has been taken, so much power remains in all of us. We can feel what has been taken from our countrymen, we can feel your pain and we stand together with you to find that pathway to unity."
Politicians, academics, and community figures highlight the major issues of the year at the Garrtjambal Auditorium - a key location at Garma.
Politicians from all sides are invited.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he sees Garma as a cornerstone for First Nations politics, and a space where politicians, academics and community leaders highlight and discuss key issues.
"We will not abandon substance for symbolism or retreat to platitudes at the expense of progress."
But it's not just a place for leaders.
As the sun sets each night, there's an eruption of movement on the sands of the sacred Bunggul site, a ceremonial close to the day's proceedings.
The sounds of the Bilma or clapsticks echo through the leaves of the surrounding stringy bark forest.
Music, dancing, and yarning continues throughout the night, as many make the most of the magic of the festival.
Deeper in the bush among the stringy-bark trees hangs the Gapan Gallery, an outpost of the Yirrkala art centre print studio.
Yothu Yindi Foundation CEO, Denise Bowden, says Garma is an invitation for ordinary people to experience a cultural exchange like no other.
"Music and dance and art, song, a love of learning of a different culture. It's a really healthy platform upon which we can get through some challenging discussions."
Guests experience a rich cultural immersion.
From weaving workshops to wood carving, traditional art, music and dance is the heartbeat of the four day festivities.
Denise Bowden says Garma has become an important part of Australian life.
"I would never have thought it to grow to such an extent that it has now and we are very fortunate to be able to now take four days to share with the nation how important Garma has become."
