NAIDOC Up Late: Trailblazers

Overview

NAIDOC Week is taking place between Sunday, July 2–Sunday, July 9 in 2023 — and kicking things off on the eve of the week-long festivities is NAIDOC Up Late, a free celebration of contemporary First Nations musicians.

NAIDOC Week organisers have tried to bring this event together twice over the last two years, but have been forced to cancel both times due to the pandemic and wet weather. Now, the event is set to finally hit Barangaroo on Saturday, July 1 with sunny weather predicted and a stacked lineup of musical guests on the lineup.

Catch a who's who of boundary-pushing hip hop and R&B between 1–10pm, with BARKAA, Tasman Keith, Nooky, B Wise and A.GIRL all taking to the stage.

BARKAA and Tasman Keith are both coming off festival-highlight sets down at Tasmania's Dark Mofo, while Nooky will bring the immense energy that he's been building via his music and his game-changing social enterprise WE ARE WARRIORS. B Wise will take to the stage with a catalogue of hits including multiple beloved appearances on triple j's Like a Version and collaborations with Sampa the Great, Kwame and ONEFOUR — and A.GIRL remains one of the country's biggest artists on the rise following performances at Vivid, Field Day, Spilt Milk and the NRL Grand Final.

A.GIRL

Rounding out the lineup are Mau Power, WIZZ, Munkimuk, Indigenous a cappella group AIM 4 More, and legend of the Australian RnB scene and The Edge radio host DJ Nino Brown.

On top of all the music at NAIDOC Up Late, there'll also be a street basketball competition hosted by Promote the Goat. You can catch the three-point shoot-out and a slam dunk competition — both of which you can register to take part in if you're particularly gifted with a basketball.

Indigenous storytellers and performers Luke Currie-Richardson and Ghenoa Gela are on hosting duty, guiding you through all the exciting happenings.

Plus, there will be food and drinks from Walkabout Coffee, G-Dup Burgers and Antico Woodfire Pizza.

Entry is free — just register for a ticket online. The basketball comp will kick off from 1pm, DJ Nino Brown will be on the decks throughout the day into the night and the musicians will start from 5.30pm.

Top image: BARKAA performing at Dark Mofo, Remi Chauvin.