BARUNGA FESTIVAL 2023

The 35th annual Barunga Festival was bigger and better than ever in 2023, in fact if you didn’t get in early, you missed out, as tickets for this year’s event sold out and gates were closed on Saturday afternoon.

This year the festival was handed back to community control and didn’t they deliver a fantastic event that attracted a massive sell-out crowd to take part in 3 days of sport, music and culture on display over the June long-weekend.

The event also coincided with a meeting of the NT’s four Land Councils to discuss the Barunga Voice Declaration to provide support to the YES campaign for the up-coming referendum on the Voice to Parliament. More than 200 representatives of the Northern, Central, Tiwi and Anindilyakwa land council came together on the traditional lands of the Bagala (Jawoyn) group at Barunga to sign the Declaration and a copy was presented to Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney.

The 2023 Barunga Voice Declaration calls "for the recognition of our peoples in our still young constitution by enshrining our voice to the parliament and executive government, never to be rendered silent with the stroke of a pen again".

It invites all Australians to "right the wrongs of the past and deal with the serious issues impacting First Nations peoples…and unite our country".

Together, the land council members spoke with the authority as the elected representatives of tens of thousands of residents of remote communities, town camps and towns across the Northern Territory.

As always TEABBA was there with Ms Jedda, broadcasting all the sounds and live music from the event, with broadcasters Matt Henger, John Ross, Delma McCartney and DJB conducting the hosting roles along with many special guests who popped in to the broadcast truck to give their time for an interview and say hello.

Our live stream of Barunga 2023 was shared amongst a number of First Nations media partners ensuring the Barunga spirit was shared far and wider across the country on the various networks.



Thank you to everyone who assisted over the weekend with the TEABBA broadcast and we look forward to being back next year…so book your tickets early.