Over six days in September, singers and musicians, choirs and audiences from Alice Springs and Central Australia and visitors to the region will experience something special, as artists from this vibrant multicultural community come together with visiting interstate and international artists to present Desert Song Festival – a series of events that showcase incredible musical talent celebrating the singer, the song, the instrument, the land and its people. DSF’s diverse cultural artistry, co-operative and inclusive creativity, imbued with that quality of experimentation and years of solid artistic practice, earned the DSF a nomination in 2019 for NT Best Live Event – National Live Music Awards.
This popular NT major event is about much more than simply appreciating fine music.
‘It is a life-transforming experience of artistic brilliance and cultural diversity – a feast!’ says Curator Morris Stuart.
The Festival will present 24 events showcasing an eclectic smorgasbord of music, song, storytelling, art, film and symposia presenting an event with a unique Centralian flavour. The robust crucible of living languages, vibrant cultures and the depth of wisdom of 60,000 years of human occupation of Central Australia, informs and shapes the DSF program of concerts, intercultural collaborations, workshops, cultural visits to a remote community, yoga, the “festival cinema”, a youth and schools’ program and so much more. The online platform will live-stream some Premium Festival content.
It all kicks off with the Parade of Performers on Tuesday 17 September, followed by Aperture in the Todd Mall that same evening.
Highlights over the six days include a cultural visit to Hermannsburg, Vibratofest and the unmissable closing event – A Cappella in the Gorge, featuring local and visiting choirs and musicians, including the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, the Australian Welsh Male Choir, the Sydney-based Honeybees Choir, OLGA vocal ensemble from the Netherlands and other international artists, Mulga Bore Hard Rock, The Shavings, The Splinter Sisters, the Alice Springs Community Choir and the Central Desert Harmony Choir and many more, performing against the backdrop of the beautiful Ormiston Gorge.
This year’s festival will be the last festival curated by Stuart, marking a major milestone – of his 18 years of championing music, music practice and events in Central Australia.
Desert Song Festival’s setting is Arrernte country – Mparntwe/Alice Springs. With the majestic ranges and gorges of Central Australia as its backdrop, and heritage venues within the built environment of Alice Springs as its stages DSF presents visitors with a compelling reason to “do the NT”, by visiting “a town like Alice” to attend the Desert Song Festival!
Stuart says, ‘DSF invites you this year, to embark on “The Essential Australian Journey” to the heart, to the desert. Come and connect with the landscape, with the long-standing custodians, their culture, lore and languages.
‘Come and discover something about your country, about what it means to be Australian and perhaps about yourself.
‘Come, find yourself at DSF 2024,’ he concludes.
A celebration of Central Desert culture and the rich creativity of local artists, the annual multi-arts Desert Festival in Mparntwe/Alice Springs is a major event on the Northern Territory’s cultural calendar.
Traditionally held over 10 days, this year’s Festival is experimenting with a more streamlined program, according to Creative Director Kim Haworth.
‘We’re going with a slightly more condensed format, so it’ll be like one major festival weekend, which will be 27 to 29 September. We’re working within our limits at this time in order to create a really immersive, playful experience that can make people really proud of the talent that we’ve got coming out of the Central Desert region,’ Haworth tells ArtsHub, adding that the more compact program also acknowledges both the cost of living crisis, and the fact that tourism numbers to the Central Desert haven’t yet returned to pre-COVID levels.
First held in 2001, and originally known as the Alice Springs Festival, Desert Festival has helped birth several companion festivals over the years – Desert Song Festival and Bush Bands Bash among them – while simultaneously showcasing the talents of local creatives and drawing interstate visitors to the region.
Desert Festival’s full program, meanwhile, won’t be announced until August, but Haworth says visitors will experience the usual rich range of events, with a special focus this year on immersive experiences, alternative realities, shifting perspectives, time and the concept of play.
‘It’s about being immersed in different experiences. There will be works that will challenge the way that we perceive time and space, and then also a lot of focus on strong female voices and strong First Nations artists as well. There will also be a lot of workshops and things for youth to get involved with at this festival, too,’ Haworth says.
Four such events have grown out of the Festival’s development Project Seed, which offers local artists the opportunity to develop a work for six months, culminating in a showing at Desert Festival.
‘We’re really excited to be helping those artists develop to a presentation at the festival this year,’ Haworth explains.
As with previous Desert Festival programs, the 2024 program will centre and celebrate diverse voices and perspectives, including those of the LGBTQI+ community and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as First Nations perspectives. The Festival’s commitment to inclusivity also includes the presentation of events in a venue that is already highly accessible and familiar to many local communities: the Olive Pink Botanic Garden, located a short distance from the CBD.
‘They’re beautiful, lush, open native gardens and hold a lovely sense of place for us in which to run the event,’ Haworth says.
Desert Song Festival is returning in 2024: Shorter, Sharper, Brighter! For six days of music and song in the Central Desert, 17-22 September 2024.
Desert Festival runs from 27-29 September 2024.
Both festivals take place on Arrernte Country in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Full program details will be announced soon.
