Yirramboi Festival 2021

Overview

2020 was especially quiet on the arts and live performance front, but this year's edition of the First Nations Yirramboi Festival is making up for lost time. Returning for its third citywide outing between Thursday, May 6–Sunday, May 16, the multi-disciplinary festival is dishing up a huge program of over 150 different events — and celebrating Indigenous arts and culture in a very big way.

Highlights from the genre-tripping lineup include Coconut Woman, a touching celebration of belonging from Maryanne Sam; the Deadly Funny Showcase as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival; and rapper Ziggy Ramo playing his debut album Black Thoughts live on the Melbourne Recital Centre stage.

Or, you can check out Ronald Edwards Pepper's transformation of the Metro Tunnel; watch Bred, Briefs Factory International's exploration of First Nations history; and see Ngioka Bunda-Heath's new dance piece and photographic exhibition, both of which are called Birrpai.

And, there's also Seasons in Black Box, which also forms part of this year's new Rising festival. Running until Saturday, June 5, the multi-part sound work takes over its own sound pavilion in the Royal Botanic Gardens, and explores the important role of plants in the Kulin seasonal calendar.

Top image: Teresa Tan.