It's Naidoc Week, and there are some great festivites in store to celebrate this years mantra - Keep the Fires Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud.

For a cultural experience, consider the SCU event on Wednesday. If watching young talent on the field is more your thing, there is a real treat for you on Thursday with the inaugural Naidoc Oztag Gala Day at Hepburn Park.

SCU will be holding an event with a wide range of cultural entertainment for Naidoc Week celebrations in Lismore on Wednesday 10th July. The SCU Indigenous Events Coordinating Committee “Invite all staff, students, and community to join us for our 2024 NAIDOC Week celebrations.”

The celebrations will start at 11am with the Welcome to Country by an elder, followed by dancing and weaving cultural performances and workshops, community stalls and musicians, including a special performance by Dean Brady.

Dean is from the Gugu Yalanji and Birrigubba people and the Matabele Zimbabwean people. He is a singer / songwriter from Brisbane, and his R&B hit “Falling” is described as a “ gorgeous, elegantly wounded” and has a motown influence. Dean's parents were also musical and were part of the Outback Motown group.

There is also an Art Exhibition in the SCU Library to peruse and enjoy. But don’t be late, this is a travelling event appearing at three SCU Campuses. They will have to pack up after 2pm.

Stuart Barlo, the Dean of Gnibi says, “We have the opportunity to be Blak and Proud! Local communities have had to deal with fires and floods over the last few years - there was not a lot to celebrate.  

“We come together now to celebrate the Indigenous spirit.

“In 1939, Naidoc week came about in order to protect against colonialism. In 1979, it became a celebration of Aboriginal people. We are still here, we are still a part of it and happy to be here to celebrate.”

The SCU Naidoc celebrations will be on campus at the Goodman Plaza (Military Rd East). It starts at 11am and finishes at 2pm.  

For those that can't get enough of indigenous talent on the field, a collaboration between CASPA, Lismore Oztag, Aboriginal Affairs NSW and the Widjabul Wia-Bal community, will see players stream in from several Bundjalung Nation communities, including teams from across the Queensland border.

Get on down to Hepburn Park as this free event is set to become an annual highlight on CASPA’s cultural calendar. This year its all on one day, but the level of interest will see it expand to a multi-day tournament in future for children and young people aged 10 to 18 years.

The Oztag Naidoc celebration will also feature a range of other activities to recognise this year’s theme.

(Credit: IB Images)

CASPA CEO Naarah Rodwell said she was delighted with the level of interest in the inaugural event which had exceeded all expectations of organisers with 200 people signed up. “This incredible sports-focused community day will bring together hundreds of children and their families from across northern NSW and southern Queensland to celebrate the 2024 NAIDOC Week,” Ms Rodwell said.

“With many of CASPA’s services located in the rugby league heartland of northern NSW, we thought a friendly Oztag competition would be the perfect way to celebrate NAIDOC Week and we would love to make this an annual event in the future.”

Find out more about Caspa's Oztag event here.

If you would like to know more about SCU's headline act, here is a link to some information on Dean Brady.