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Calling Country Ceremony

Heralding the beginning of Shine On Gimuy Festival is the Calling Country Ceremony–a coming together of First Nations clan groups to the Gimuy/Cairns area and surrounding region, hosted by the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji peoples.

2023's opening event attracted hundreds of spectators and included 90 dancers, each performing traditional dances which speak to their shared and respective songlines and stories. The ceremony hadn't been performed for close to a century until last year! 

“Our performance is a call and response ritual, featuring dance and song cycles that uniquely honour
totemic, ancestral, country, and cultural expressions. It’s about new visibility for the age-old traditions
and ceremonies, relevant of Tropical North Queensland and rainforest Bama”,
- Rhoda Roberts AO, Artistic Director.

Join us this year on Thursday 3 October, 2024 from 6:00pm for Calling Country and the official launch of Shine On Gimuy 2024 at the Cairns Esplanade, Eastern Event Lawn.