Celebrate NAIDOC Week online

Join us for our annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, NAIDOC in the City, broadcast online for the first time on Saturday 14 November.

NAIDOC in the City online will feature MCs Luke Carroll and Angeline Penrith and a Welcome to Country by Uncle Allen Madden on behalf of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Viewers can also enjoy a smoking ceremony by Uncle Matthew Doyle, music performances, a dance workshop and a lively panel discussion.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said organisers had worked hard to ensure NAIDOC in the City could go ahead in line with Covid restrictions.

“It’s a disappointment for all of us that we can’t celebrate NAIDOC Week with an event in Hyde Park as we have done each year since 2012,” the Lord Mayor said.

“Given the restrictions forced on us by Covid we are celebrating on-line this year – a fusing of modern technology with the world’s oldest living culture.”

Watch performances from:

Ziggy Ramo – Sydney-based hip-hop artist with razor-sharp lyricism and effortlessly cool musical talent Barkaa – a Malyangapa, Barkindji woman from western NSW, now living in South West Sydney, whose raps are a rallying cry against injustice and black deaths in custody Mi-kaisha – local Sydney R&B soul artist, with a soulful and sugary voice and hard-hitting lyrics inspired by her experiences and the strongest resilient women in her community.

NAIDOC in the City panel members will discuss this year’s theme ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’.

You can join a Muggera Dance workshop from the comfort of your own home, led by Jax and Darren Compton.

Online viewers can browse and purchase goods from virtual market stalls. Stall holders include Wambool Dreaming, Saretta Art and Design, Goanna Hut, Jarin Street, Nulla Breeze, Boomerang Batteries, The Floral Decorator, Bakarindi Bush Foods, Double Bridge Farm, Koori Kinnections, Ngumie Weaving, Nungala Creative and Boomalli Aboriginal Art Gallery.

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins come from community organising in the 1920’s and the 1938 Day of Mourning. NAIDOC Week increases awareness of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the wider community.

This year’s theme ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were the first to practice sustainable land management, our first explorers and navigators, our first farmers, scientists, diplomats and artists,” the Lord Mayor said.

“This year’s theme recognises that the very first footprints on this continent were those belonging to First Nations peoples, and celebrates thousands of years of ongoing custodianship.

“And although celebrations are a little different this year, they remain just as important.”

NAIDOC Week runs from Sunday 8 November to Sunday 15 November. It is traditionally held in July but due to the global Covid-19 pandemic the National NAIDOC Committee postponed the event to keep communities safe.

Now in its eight year, NAIDOC in the City will be broadcast on Saturday 14 November from 2pm to 5pm.

View the full program and watch the broadcast at sydneynaidoc.com.au

NAIDOC in the City is produced by 33creative.com.au

Learn more about NAIDOC Week at naidoc.org.au

For media enquiries or images, contact Senior Media Advisors Diana Kosanovic [email protected] or Roxanne Macara [email protected] or call the media team on 9246 7292.

For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore contact Paul Mackay. Phone 0436 816 604 or email [email protected]