10-days of glorious music at the Desert Song Festival, Australia

In a remote Central Australian Gorge, the 2022 Desert Song Festival featured Australian and international artists over 10 days, plus a Climate and Lands Symposium that brought together audiences and Australia’s leading climate scientists and Indigenous Knowledge Keepers in an unprecedented art music/science collaboration.

In anticipation for its 10^th anniversary celebrations in 2023, the Desert Song Festival this year combined music, art, cultural experiences, the ‘Climate Caravan’ and a Climate and Land Symposium. Choirs, singers, musicians, Climate Scientists and Indigenous Knowledge-keepers fostered a genuine interaction between Climate Science and the Arts, true to the theme ‘Our Climate, Our Planet, Our Future’.

The viability of the planet for generations to come is at stake and as we face the existential reality of dangerous climate change and global warming, the values of DSF impress upon the organisers the need to make music and ‘sing a song’ for the planet as a tool for climate action.

Add to this the cultural visits to remote communities; the Central Australian premiere of Spinifex Gum presented by the Marliya Choir from Cairns; ‘From the Desert to the Arafura Sea’, the Festival’s intercultural musical collaboration between the Djari Project and the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir; two magical nights at the Earth Sanctuary ‘Under the Southern Cross’; A cappella in the Gorge and so much more!

The Northern Territories is a robust crucible of living languages and vibrant cultures. This is the ‘cradle’ of the Desert Song Festival (DSF). The depth of wisdom and culture of 60,000 years of human occupation of Central Australia informs and shapes a Festival program that celebrates Aboriginal languages and culture through performances that foster pride, resilience and social cohesion amongst the Centralian community and audiences.

DSF presented ‘the essential Australian Journey’ this September in Alice Springs where the unique story of human occupation, resilience and culture was celebrated in Central Australia’s most popular festival. Across 10 days of exceptional music-making from the glittering Parade of Performers in the Todd Mall in the Alice Springs CBD to the magic of Kwartatuma – Ormiston Gorge, Festival-goers enjoyed the sounds from choirs and musicians from across Australia and visiting international artists presented over 50 events showcasing cultural diversity and artistic brilliance celebrating the singer, the song, the instrument, the land and its people.

Learn more about the Desert Song Festival by visiting their website: https://www.desertsong.com.au/.

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