The Dreaming Festival Series – Part Two

September 24, 2010 in Rants & Raves, Series
Tags: Australia, culture, festival, film, forums, Indigenous Australians, music, Queensland, The Dreaming Festival, theatre, Woodford

Without a doubt we’re in some pretty heavy daze over the election outcome, having gone to the polls on August 21. So to break up the monotonous droning I thought something entirely different was in order. This intrepid traveller attended his first Dreaming Festival and kept a loose log of events of the long weekend.

As it turns out there was a lot material to write about so I’ve turned this post into a two-part series – The Dreaming Festival Series [Read Part One].

I hope you enjoy today’s look inside the Dreaming Festival 2010.

More details about the festival are provided at the end of this article.

Day Three
It was a struggle leaving the heating tent after only having been in bed for a few hours.

But the lure of the day’s activities helped motivate me to leave the tent and venture out into the light. After doing what you do in the morning, it was time to hunt down some coffee. The lure of organic coffee and chocolate-filled donuts found me at the same coffee and donut stand that had won my patronage the day before.

It was the pick-me-up I needed to help recover.

There wasn’t time to hang around to soak up the sugary caffeinated goodness though as the first gig for the day was about to start – the Kehewin Native Dance Theatre’s performance.

The Kehewin Native Dance Theatre hails from Canada, and is made up of primarily the John family. They put on another amazing performance. Though I had seen it already I couldn’t help but come back for more.

Plus the other dance troups I’d noted down to see were also on that day following the Kehewin Native Dance Theatre.

Next up was Roi Mata Salyne Namat Rou (an Indigenous dance theatre from Vanuatu).

It was their first ever international performance and they had chosen this year’s Dreaming Festival to be their first. As they explained it was only a demonstration of a few of their traditional dances, the most significant of which was a performance in honour of a famous warrior king that had died 400 years ago.

Waiting for the change over to happen and the venue to be reset for the Mornington Island Dance (around the camp fire the night before I’d promised to watch them perform), a few of us ducked into a couple of galleries to see some famous and not-so-famous artwork. They were excellent and compelling using different techniques. While there were a range of contemporary pieces, the more traditional pieces were better by far in my humble opinion.

Dancestry had been reset and Mornington Island Dance theatre took up their positions. They were spectacular! The dancing was powerful, energetic and beautiful. The stories-through-dance were important to be told and to help share something with the hundreds of people watching. When they had finished, it was hard to believe they had been performing for 30 minutes.

Following on was the Doomadgee Dance Group. They were great and danced up a storm. It was explained that they were connected with the mob from Mornington Island. One of their last dances even included a few of the Mornington Island Dance theatre. They also involved the audience in a couple of dances which made it more fun to watch. It helped gee up the crowd for more.

I’d worked up quite an appetite watching all the dancing. You couldn’t help but to dance-a-long from time to time or sway to the sweet rhythms. So it was definitely time to seek out more sustenance for the rest of the day, or least until dinner time.

Without anything really to see for a little while, I decided to wander around the grounds to see what was happening at different venues. There was some very sweet music at alterNATIVE being played by the Yabu Band, but I was a little too late to catch them as they were finishing their set. But I couldn’t stay enough to see Iwantja Band as I was heading over to join the “Cyberblaggies” forum.

“Cyberblaggies” was a great little forum about how Indigenous Australians are using computers and Internet and some of the barriers to its use, particularly in remote areas. It was also interesting to hear about how each of the speakers had come across technology and the Internet, and how they were currently using the Internet in their own work.

Perhaps the best part, and also a disappointing part, was that I was one of the few in the audience. I was able to ask my questions and interact with the forum speakers in a more intimate way. These kinds of interactions always makes a forum a good one! I spent a bit longer there to speak with the presenters once the forum had finished. They provided some insights into how difficult it was to get people involved and to get computers and the Internet into remote and regional communities.

Their frustration was clearly evident.

Late into the afternoon it was time to head back to camp to ‘freshen’ up and find another layer of clothing. It was difficult to come to grips with the fact that you had to wear some very warm clothing in Queensland. Anyway, after a little lie down it was time to head out again.

It was the last night before heading home and it was going to be another late night.

[Note: Details are blurry with events and notes written in a strange scrawl that's illegible.]

Day Four
Another early start but this one was with more purpose than just a hot tent – a lift to the airport needed to be organised. But there was some time to get packed and find some coffee and donuts. They’d become the staple breakfast over the festival – may be not the most nutritious breakfast but a delicious one.
Breakfast out of the way it was time to organise a lift which proved to be a little more tricky but fortunately being a festival there was a lift to be found.

The journey took much longer than anticipated by all involved with some concerns that flights and buses could be missed. Fortunately we managed to find the airport and a good amount of time to spare. Time was spent browsing through the newspapers, books and magazines on display before the boarding call.

Low-and-behold the flight was on time and it wasn’t packed either. In fact it was a rather comfortable ride home, although it was difficult to sleep in a delirious state after days of little sleep, lots of walking, dancing, talking, drinking and thinking. It was also a great time to reflect on the last few days and the amazing people; the music; theatre; comedy; art; dance and forums.

It was a long trip home but only because I was craving the comfort of my own bed. But soon enough the plane was taxiing into the terminal and before too much longer I was at home.

An incredible journey had come to a close and I am very much looking forward to the Dreaming Festival in 2011.

The Dreaming Festival
The Dreaming Festival, held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, is an Australian and international First Nations festival. It includes theatre, dance, music, forums, workshops, and arts and crafts. There’s thousands of people, lots of different foods to eat and lots of different things to see and do. It’s held at the Woodford Folk Festival grounds (south-east Queensland).

There are a range of ways you can live the Dreaming Festival experience that suit nearly all budgets

Check it out and book your ticket for next year’s festival.