The Bathurst Wiradyuri Community Elders are promising a spectacular ceremony to officially welcome people to Wahluu- Mount Panorama for next week’s Inland Sea of Sound festival.
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A key component of the Inland Sea of Sound since its inception has been its incorporation of Indigenous Australian culture and performance, and the Wiradyuri elders are set for another big year atop Wahluu.
“The Inland Sea of Sound Welcome to Country and opening ceremony is going to be very special,” Wiradyuri emerging elder Yanhadarrambal [Jade Flynn] said.
“We’re going to incorporate a whole lot of Wiradyuri cultural elements such as dance,storytelling and of course, a smoking ceremony.”
The ceremony will follow the key theme from this year’s NAIDOC Week: ‘because of her, we can.’
“We’re going to make sure that we put our women up front and honour them,” Yanhadarrambal said.
The Wiradyuri people have a special connection to Wahluu, and the area of the mountain hosting the festival [near Reid and Sulman Park] is synonymous with Indigenous Australian celebration.
“We want to introduce people to our culture in that area, and part of our culture is dance and music,” Wiradyuri elder Mallyan [Brian Grant] said.
“Our ancestors are on the mountain, so when this takes place, they’re with us.”
The connection between the Wiradyuri people and Wahluu is rather unique, with many creation stories shining a light on the mountain’s cultural significance.
“We need to get the name Wahluu out to everybody in Bathurst in order to understand the mountain’s importance as a place of ceremony,” Wiradyuri elder Dinawan Dyrribang [Bill Allen] said.
“You can class the Inland Sea of Sound as a type of ceremony for everyone in Bathurst.”
Fresh from a well received ceremony to open this year’s Artstate conference, the Wiradyuri community is hoping to continue the festivities into the Inland Sea of Sound festival.
“Not to give too much away, but we’ve invited some other First Nations people to join our ceremony this year,” Wiradyuri elder Wirribee [Leanna Carr-Smith] said.
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Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
