Wakakirri National Story Festival

WARNING: "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website may contain images and voices of deceased persons".

At Wakakirri we believe that every child in Australia should have the opportunity to experience the personal development and educational benefits of participation in the performing and visual arts. The Wakakirri Outback Program has been designed to give students from remote areas of Australia the chance to participate in a National Festival and to share their story with the rest of Australia.

The Wakakirri Outback team visits up to three remote schools a year. They run workshops in film, dance, story-telling and music and they assist the students to produce a story that is performed or screened at a live festival held for the community on the final day.

All of the works are captured on film and go on to form an exhibition that tours around Australia and is shown to every school participating in City Wakakirri.

This year, thanks to Community Festivals for Education Engagement, we were able to take the Wakakirri Outback Program to three remote Australian communities. Yuendumu, the second largest Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory, situated about 2-3 hours north-west of Alice Springs, Wujal Wujal in Far North Queensland, an isolated community about 3 hours north of Cairns and Cunnamulla in South-West Queensland. Around 300 students and their teachers experienced Outback Wakakirri this year.

To provide students from remote areas with an opportunity to improve their educational outcomes and career pathways.

Click on the below thumbnails to view some of the works created during Wakakirri Outback 2008.

*Cooktown State School* A Hip Hop Track	*Cunnumulla State School* A Film	*Laura State School* A Hip Hop Track	*Yuendumu CEC* A Hip Hop Track

Bloomfield River State School Preps- A Song	Bloomfield River State School A Hip Hop Track	*Laura State School* A Film	*Yuendumu CEC- Preps* A Song

As part of Wakakirri Outback 2008, we asked Indigenous dancer Sermsah from 'So you think you can Dance', to be a Wakakirri Outback Mentor and put together a message of inspiration and to tell his story to all of the students who took part in in Outback Wakakirri this year.

This message was screened at all three Outback Festivals. Watch Sermsah in action below.