AustLit

The first Giiyong Festival was on 22 September 2018 at Jigamy, a property owned by the Twofold Aboriginal Corporation, in South East NSW. It was the region’s first multi-art form festival celebrating traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture through dance, art, music, film, theatre, food and workshops. 

Giiyong means ‘come to welcome’ in Dhurga, the language local to the Eden and Bega area.

The Twofold Aboriginal Corporation’s board, management and staff vision is ‘to create an inclusive place where Aboriginal people of the Twofold Bay Region are proud of our heritage and are part of the local economy, and to end the cycle of poverty in our community to create a real future for our children’. 

The Giiyong Festival is an opportunity to showcase culture and talent from all over Australia and the Torres Strait. South East Arts undertook many artist and performer development programs in the years leading up to the Festival, including with Bega and Eden Marine High Schools.

Source: https://southeastarts.org.au/giiyong/ (Sighted 15/10/2019)