Warangesda Festival

11/11/2025

Save the Date!

Join us in celebrating the Mudgin-Gal Women’s Festival, presented by Mudgin-Gal Women’s Centre Redfern and Burrundi Theatre.

📅 Saturday, 6 December
🕚 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
📍 Redfern Park

Come along and show your support for women, community, and culture!

08/09/2025

07/09/2025

Warangesda Festival 2025

Acknowledgement & Reflections

Gospel Tent

The debut of the Gospel Tent was a unifying experience, adding joy, faith, and shared spirit to the community gathering. We also acknowledge the history of the Church of England, and the People’s Church built on Warangesda Station by its residents under the leadership of Bobby Peters.

Church of England-local Reverend Cannon Shannon Smith, Grace Church-Pastor Nigel, One in Christ Church Pastor Mario Rizerri, Prophet/Pastor Ada Boland, Apostle Joseph Boachie.

Our thanks go to Sarah Weymouth, whose visual art-making workshops inspired creativity and offered participants a hands-on opportunity to connect through art.

The Ancestral Footprints Podcast - Darby Ingram amplifies community voices, capturing the stories of Elders and local families to ensure they continue to resonate far beyond the festival grounds. Artfarm Bonnie Owen provided a dynamic media platform. Meanwhile, Pioneer Park-Jenny O’Donnell offered historical interpretation, providing historical relics from Warangesda. Together, these contributions broadened the festival experience, legacy, story, and history into a powerful collective narrative.

We thank all of the First Nations business owners who attended and shared their merchandise, showcasing creativity, culture, and enterprise. We also extend our gratitude to all of the festival vendors who joined us, bringing their goods, services, and energy to help create a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere for the community.

Sincere thanks to Elijah Ingram of Miil Miil Productions, whose contributions greatly enriched Warangesda Festival 2025. He led the Smoking Ceremony in 40-degree heat and captured the festival through powerful photography that reflected the emotion, resilience, and beauty of community on this sacred site.
Elijah’s cultural and creative leadership honoured a lasting and inspiring imprint on the festival.

Western Riverina Arts, Aanya Whitehead– We extend our gratitude to Western Riverina Arts for their sponsorship and support of the Festival. By embracing both on-the-ground presence and digital access, Western Riverina Arts helped us extend the festival’s story to new audiences, honouring tradition while embracing the opportunities of contemporary platforms.

Mandaang Guwu - Thank you & much, love and respect.

06/09/2025

Warangesda Festival 2025

Acknowledgement & Reflections

Marrambidya Music Stage

The Marrambidya Music Stage hosted an unforgettable grassroots line-up of trailblazers. Showcasing an extraordinary line-up of artists reflected a balance of legendary voices, guest performers, and homegrown talent, each bringing their own unique contribution to the celebration.
We were especially proud to celebrate and highlight the depth of our local talent, whose music resonated with the spirit of Country and community. Their performances not only entertained but also affirmed the strength of culture and creativity rooted in our region.
Bands: River Country, Pick Up Bones, and Bidj Boys.
Pioneers: The Muirs
Locals: Xavier Beauchamp and Sophie Carberry.
Special Guests: Emma Donovan and Evie J Willie.
Harp: Martyn Cook

Yindyamarra Talks

The Yindyamarra Talks created a dedicated space for local conversations, knowledge-sharing, and the amplification of community voices. Powerfully hosted by Lowanna Grant, these intimate discussions invited honesty, reflection, and connection.
The contributions of participants deepened our collective understanding and highlighted the enduring importance of dialogue, storytelling, and cultural respect as foundations for healing and unity. Speakers: Shannon Smith, Bev Johnson, Josie Charles & Rohan & Nerissa King.

Tribal Arts & Marramarra Weaving

Under the direction of Elder Michael Lyons, offered another deeply powerful dimension to the festival. Michael’s work highlighted the strength of tradition while also embracing contemporary forms, showing how culture adapts, survives, and flourishes across time.
The Marramarra Weaving workshops, led by Elder Janet Curphey, provided festival goers with a hands-on opportunity to engage in one of the oldest and most enduring cultural practices. Janet generously shared her knowledge, guiding participants through traditional weaving techniques.

Corroboree Grounds

The Corroboree Grounds a centrepiece of cultural pride. It was here that tradition, ceremony, and creativity came together in a powerful display of identity, resilience, and community spirit. Reminding all present that Warangesda remains a living place of culture and continuity.
Dance Groups: Burrundi Theatre for Performing Arts, Wambiyala Dance Group & Milawa Wagadhaanygalang Dancers.

Mandaang Guwu to everyone, much love and respect.

06/09/2025

Warangesda Festival 2025

Walk Back on Warangesda

On the centenary of Warangesda’s closure, the community gathered for a profoundly moving milestone. The Walk Back On, led by Gwen Callen and her family, symbolised not only a return to place but also a powerful act of historical reclamation. Gwen welcomed everyone back on Country, back on Warangesda and Elijah Ingram conducted the Smoking Ceremony.

As participants retraced the steps onto Warangesda, the walk became a living tribute to the resilience of those who were once displaced and to the generations who carry their stories forward. It was a moment of remembrance, healing, and unity, honouring the legacy of ancestors while reaffirming the unbroken connection to Country.

For descendants, families, and communities connected to Warangesda, this act of walking back was more than ceremonial—it was a statement of survival, belonging, and cultural strength. The centenary marked both a time of reflection on past injustices and a celebration of enduring spirit, with the land itself bearing witness to this historic return.

Stories Under the Stars

The evening unfolded as a moving tribute beneath the night sky, where stories, memory, and song wove together. A heartfelt acknowledgement was made of Jim Turner, the last resident to be forcibly removed from Warangesda upon its closure. His memory was honoured with deep respect by his granddaughter, Gwen Callen, who carried forward his story with dignity and strength.

The reflections continued with Calita Murray joined by Sarah Donnelly, who paid tribute to her ancestral grandmother, Jenny Swift. Her words traced the journey of Jenny’s life, her struggles, and her final resting place at Warangesda, grounding the gathering in both sorrow and reverence. These stories reminded all present that Warangesda is not only a historic site, but also a resting place of ancestors whose lives continue to shape and guide future generations.

Songs in the Trees

The following evening offered an equally powerful and soul-stirring experience. Surrounded by the natural beauty of Warangesda, the audience was treated to the rich and moving voice of Emma Donovan. Her performance filled the night with her music resonating with both heart and history.

Emma shared her daughter’s ancestral family connections to Warangesda, creating a profound link between past and present. This personal connection gave greater meaning, transforming it into more than a concert — it was an act of remembrance, honour, and cultural continuity. Mandaang Guru Emma Donovan, much love and respect. Mandaang Guwu to all involved, much love and respect.

06/09/2025

Warangesda Festival 2025

Burrundi Theatre for Performing Arts Ltd would like to sincerely acknowledge and thank everyone who contributed to the success of Warangesda Festival 2025.

This year’s gathering carried an especially profound weight and meaning, as it marked the 100-year milestone since the closure of Warangesda Aboriginal Station and the forced removal of its last residents. The centenary gave the festival a deeper resonance, reminding us of the struggles, resilience, and stories of those who lived, worked, and were displaced from this place.

To return once again to the grounds of Warangesda — a place layered with memory, history, and cultural significance — was an act of remembrance as much as celebration. It was an opportunity to honour the ancestors, to reflect on the pain of dispossession, and to embrace the strength of survival.

Despite the challenges of extreme weather — 40-degree heat and winds reaching 60 kilometres per hour — the festival spirit prevailed. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the entire community, artists and performers, production team, stallholders, and vendors who braved the conditions with resilience and commitment.

The festival drew together people from across the country, many with deep ancestral and cultural ties to Warangesda. Families reunited on Country, descendants walked the same land as their forebears, and voices long carried in silence were given space to be heard. Local and visiting Elders led the way, offering guidance and presence, steadfast in their commitment to honouring families, stories, and the enduring spirit of connection.

Throughout the festival, the site became alive once more with song, dance, ceremony, and conversation. Together, these moments formed a powerful reminder: while Warangesda may have been closed a century ago, its story continues, carried forward in the hearts of its people and the strength of community.

Warangesda Festival 2025 was not only a celebration of art, culture, and identity but also a historical reclaiming — a statement of survival and continuity, ensuring that Warangesda remains a living place of memory, pride, and cultural strength for generations to come.

Closing Note
We sincerely apologise for the delay in sharing our acknowledgements and reporting on this year’s festival. Unforeseen technical issues, compounded by weather impacts, resulted in the loss of much of our photo and media content. While this was deeply disappointing, it only strengthens our resolve to ensure the stories, memories, and achievements of Warangesda Festival 2025 are properly honoured.