Bunuru Festival: a celebration of art, music and culture

The annual Undulup Association’s Act Belong Commit –  Bunuru Festival is a smoke and vape-free family-friendly festival where community members can come together to share stories and culture. Now in its fourth year and hosted at Pioneer Park in Cowaramup, this free event is a unique showcase of local Aboriginal culture, art and music.

Photos supplied by Undalup Bunuru Festival.

On Saturday 24 February 12pm – 5pm, bring the whole family to the festival at Pioneer Park in Cowaramup and settle back on your picnic rug, grab a bite to eat and enjoy a workshop, all while being entertained by some of Western Australia’s best Indigenous artists.

Zac Webb, Chair of the Undulup Association whose aim is to share Aboriginal cultural knowledge with the community,  says, ‘Bunuru Festival is about bringing community together, on Country, to celebrate Country.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone out there, friends and families connecting and enjoying the music, crafts and things to do.’

Let’s dive into what you can expect at Bunuru Festival this year.

Bunuru Festival organisers have curated a bunch of exciting community workshops and art activities, from traditional basket weaving to learning hip-hop moves, there’s something for everyone.

• Renowned Perth muralist and fine artist Brendan Lewis, AKA Hope will be on site to run a ‘paint by numbers’ workshop for kids.
• Create a traditional basket with Lea Taylor, an award-winning Aboriginal artist/weaver who will be holding basket-weaving workshops using natural materials.
• Learn some funky new moves with energetic Noongar, Jingali rapper Zero Emcee, who will be workshopping some hip-hop manouvres and facilitating a songwriting workshop.
• Be inspired by Alkira of Alkira Designs and join a keyring-making workshop. Alkira is 13 years old, and she won the Emerging Business Woman of the Year Award last year at the Indigenous Emerging Business Forum when she was just 12!
• Take advantage of the breeze and ‘go fly a kite’ at the kite-making workshop.

A festival is not a festival without music! And Western Australia has no shortage of talented musicians.

Appearing on the main stage:

• Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse – Six-time winners of the Western Australian Music Awards Indigenous Act of the Year, the inimitable duo sing songs in the Noongar language.
• Phil Walley-Stack – one of Australia’s top didgeridoo players, a talented songwriter and a professional performing artist.
• The Nomadics – musical alchemists with harmonies from the heart of Australia.
• MissGenius – Triple J Unearthed hip hop artist from Broome.
• Coen Fowler AKA BLTZ – Dynamic electronic dance music creator and award-winning multi-instrumentalist.

Pack a picnic or grab a bite from the local food trucks and stalls – a falafel from Amber Falafel, sausage sizzle cooked up by Cowarumup Primary School or a delicious Pizza from Bella Napoli. Street food specialists Little Hand Dumplings will have a range of tasty morsels on sale, and you can’t go past Petit Bleu Cafe or Polly Wanna Coffee vintage vans for your favourite brew.

And, of course, there must be ice cream. Berry Bliss Real Fruit Ice Cream offers a combination of local Miller’s Ice Creamery ice cream with a berry twist. Delicious!

Please bring your own water bottles – there will be refill stations available at the festival.

The Undalup Association looks forward to welcoming you/wanju to celebrate the rich indigenous culture in this incredible part of Western Australia.  Zac Webb says he is ‘really looking forward to the day itself, where our family can celebrate culture alongside the wider community that live and work on Saltwater Country.’

Read the full program here, and please consider carpooling or the shuttle bus service due to limited parking.

The Act Belong Commit Bunuru Festival is proudly supported by Healthway, Lotterywest, Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association, The Shire of Augusta Margaret River and AHOY Management.