The Great Southern Noongar Festival will bring culture, creativity and community to Albany this week, with a packed program planned for the Alison Hartman Gardens.
The festival from 11am to 3pm on Thursday will have live music, cultural dancing, Indigenous art, damper making and activities for children.
A free sausage sizzle will also be available, while a range of Aboriginal stalls will showcase locally made artwork, gifts and other creations.
Indigenous leader and organiser of the Mooditch Nop group Lindsay Dean Snr said this year’s event was expected to be one of the biggest, with a record number of stalls planned.
“We’ve got welcome to country and then a dance group following during that day and they’ve got other Aboriginal activities,” he said.
“They’ve got a heap of Aboriginal stalls that people are making gifts and artwork and stuff like that.”
A number of organisations including the Southern Aboriginal Corporation will also be represented, alongside smaller stalls run by local community members.
Mr Dean said the festival was always an enjoyable day for the community.
“The boys love to show their talent towards cultural dancing and the whole cultural aspect of NAIDOC Week,” he said.
“It’s engaged by all of the community and Aboriginal community, so everybody loves NAIDOC Week.
“Everybody participates and everybody shows up, which is really good and I think it will continue to grow.”
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