Three-day Jamba Nyinayi Festival in Coral Bay offers authentic cultural experience

From camping on country to an Aussie music icon on stage, from a men’s dance to traditional bush food workshops, the Jamba Nyinayi Festival in Coral Bay last weekend was another resounding success.

The three-day festival on Cardabia Station was bigger and better this year, with an extended program of events, workshops, and live performances. People from all over Australia, with some travelling from Queensland and South Australia, gathered in Coral Bay to experience this unique cultural celebration.

The theme of this year’s festival was Connection, inspired by Traditional Owner and cultural director Hazel Walgar, which honoured the deep and timeless interconnectedness of the Baiyungu people.

“For us this is our home, this is where we come to heal. Jamba Nyinayi means everything to me, it’s about people coming together and sharing what we do,” she said.

In a series of firsts, festival-goers enjoyed a traditional men’s dance on Saturday night by the Baiyungu Dancers, marking the first time in more than half a century that a men’s group has performed on Baiyungu Country.

My Kitchen Rules star Matt Moncrieff’s sold-out native bush foods workshops were also a first, showcasing traditional prawn and calamari recipes using native herbs and spices found on Baiyungu country.

“Great gatherings coming together, it’s what’s been happening for centuries. This is the old way, the new way. We’re bringing people together through music, art, dance, and food,” Mr Moncrieff, a Ngoonooru-Wajarri Yamatji writer, cook and bushfood advocate, said.

The entertainment was headlined by Aussie music icon Shane Howard, of Goanna fame, who performed Solid Rock to a packed audience in the station’s shearing shed, with the crowd spilling out on to nearby dunes.

The crowd was also mesmerised by performances from traditional dance groups Coral Spawn, Binmaga Yamatji Dancers, and Maatakitj led by renowned Noongar music and composer Clint Bracknell.