Cultural celebration to launch NAIDOC Week on Redlands Coast

NAIDOC Week on Redlands Coast will be launched with a Sunday of celebration.

Redland City Council will host the Redlands Coast NAIDOC Cultural Celebration on Sunday 7 July from 9am to 2pm at Raby Bay Harbour Park, Cleveland.

Redland City Mayor Jos Mitchell said NAIDOC Week 2024, which runs from 7 to 14 July, was an opportunity to celebrate First Nations culture and history.

“The Redlands Coast NAIDOC Cultural Celebration on 7 July is a free community event that will showcase traditional and contemporary Quandamooka music and dancing,” the Mayor said.

“I’m looking forward to enjoying the celebration and encourage members of the community to come along and enjoying the wonderful activities planned for the day.”

As Traditional Custodians of much of Redlands Coast, the Quandamooka People have lived on the lands and seas surrounding North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) for at least 21,000 years.

On the day there will be a traditional smoking ceremony, cultural demonstrations, information stalls, weaving workshops and activities for children.

The entertainment line-up includes: Adam James, singer/songwriter Georgia Corowa, the Yulu-Burri-Ba dancers, the Wagga Torres Strait Island Dance Company, Suga Cane Mamas, Colesy, and singer/guitarist Edgar Conlon.

Adam James, who will be performing on the day with his five-piece band, is currently partnering with Redland Performing Arts Centre (RPAC) on a major new Indigenous music project.

The Quandamooka singer/songwriter is creating a new concert-length program called The Great First Nations Songbook, drawn exclusively from the canon of Indigenous Australian music.

The project received support funding through Arts Queensland’s First Nations Commissioning Fund and will premiere at RPAC later this year.

Also performing at the Redlands Coast NAIDOC Cultural Celebration is Minjerribah-raised rapper/singer Sachem who has ancestral ties to both the Noonuccal People of Minjerribah and African America.

His unique approach to music reflects both First Nation and African American perspectives within the Australian environment, backed with a deep understanding of the hip-hop community and its culture.

Sachem is the son of celebrated Minjerribah artist and designer Delvene Cockatoo-Collins.

The national NAIDOC Week theme for 2024 is “Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud”, celebrating resilience, unity and pride and shining a light on the enduring strength and vitality of First Nations culture.

The celebrations continue at 7.30pm on Saturday 13 July with well-known cultural leader and global ambassador for Indigenous Australia, David Bindi Hudson, performing in From Campfire to Stage Light at RPAC.

From Campfire to Stage Light dovetails with NAIDOC Week’s 2024 theme being described as an “epic journey toward self-determination and Indigenous pride” as told through Hudson’s life experience.

He is a storyteller, singer-songwriter, dancer, visual artist, actor and co-founded the award-winning dance troupe Tjapukai.

For more Information on the Redlands Coast NAIDOC Cultural Celebration and NAIDOC Week, go to redland.qld.gov.au/naidoc

Redland City Council provides a suite of services to 166,873 residents and more than 63,000 residential households across Redlands Coast. Our naturally wonderful city on Quandamooka Country is home to more than 335 kilometres of coastline, six island communities and 12 mainland suburbs.