Dazzling Autumn Plans, Sorted: Parrtjima Festival Will Light Up Alice Springs Again in April 2023

Maybe you've already been and can't wait to head back. Maybe it's sat on your must-attend list but you haven't yet made the trip. Whichever fits, add Parrtjima - A Festival In Light to your 2023 travel plans, with the luminous Alice Springs event — which might just be Australia's brightest festival — set to return for another year from Friday, April 7–Sunday, April 16.

Parrtjima's 2023 fest will fashion its dazzling artworks and installations around the theme 'Listening with Heart', as inspired by the artwork surrounding the Statement from the Heart. That piece depicts Uluru-Ku Tjukurrpa, the Uluru story of connection, and was created by a group of artists from Multijulu as led by Maruku artist Rene Kulitja — and Kulitja will work with other of artists for Parrtjima to turn the Statement from the Heart artwork into a large-scale immersive light and sound installation.

That means that Parrtjima attendees will find themselves plunged in the world of the Aṉangu people of the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands surrounding Uluru. The idea is to feature ancient songlines, plus Indigenous viewpoints on Country, as well as connecting to First Peoples' strong links with the land, water and sky.

"There has been a growing realisation across the nation that Australia has something incredibly unique — its First Peoples. We are the oldest living, adapting culture," said Parrtjima Curator Rhoda Roberts AO, announcing the 2023 theme and key artwork.

"The installation at the heart of Parrtjima 2023 will take guests on a journey through the lands surrounding Uluru, Australia's most iconic landmark. The installation will remind people of the eons of oral storytelling, and the story of Kuniya and Liru that shaped the landscape of Uluru through art."

One thing that'll also be on the bill: the festival's regular annual attraction, aka a huge artwork that transforms a 2.5-kilometre stretch of the majestic, 300-million-year-old MacDonnell Ranges, showering it with light each night of the festival.

While it's too early to unveil the rest of event's lineup just yet, visitors can once again expect a big — and free — ten-day public celebration of Indigenous arts, culture, music and storytelling, including an eye-catching array of light installations. That'll all take over Alice Springs CBD's Alice Springs Todd Mall, as well as tourism and conservation facility Alice Springs Desert Park Precinct just out of town, as 2022's festival did.

Registrations for the 2023 event have just opened, if you'd like to nab an early spot in line for tickets when they go on sale.

Of course, Parrtjima is just one of Northern Territory's two glowing attractions in 2023, with Australia's Red Centre lighting up in multiple ways. The festival is a nice supplement to Bruce Munro's Field of Light installation, which — after multiple extensions — is now on display indefinitely.

Parrtjima – A Festival in Light will run from Friday, April 7–Sunday, April 16, 2023 around Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. For more information, visit the festival website.