Festival of the Dreaming, later The Dreaming: Australia's International Indigenous Festival, was an Indigenous arts and culture festival in Australia, held from 1997 until around 2012, first in Sydney, New South Wales, and then (from 2005) in Woodford, Queensland.

History

edit

The Festival of the Dreaming was first held in 1997.[1][2] The name refers to the Aboriginal Australian concept of The Dreaming. The first edition of the festival, which founded by artistic director Rhoda Roberts, was the first of four leading up to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, with some events held at the Sydney Opera House. It included an Aboriginal cast performing Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot performed in the Bundjalung language.[3]

The festival took place in Sydney, until 2004, when it relocated to Woodford, Queensland.[4] Roberts was artistic director of the festival until 2009.[5]

The festival was first held at Woodford on 10 to 13 June 2005, billed as "The Dreaming: Australia's International Indigenous Festival".[6] It was held annually until it was incorporated into the Woodford Folk Festival in 2011–2012.[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ "1997 Festival of the Dreaming". Maas Museum. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Festival of the Dreaming". Artlink (17:3). September 1997. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Aboriginal Culture Awakens Australia". Wired. 2 October 1997. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  4. ^ Baker, Candida (25 January 2019). "Indigenous arts supremo Rhoda Roberts". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Rhoda Roberts AO". Live Performance Australia. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  6. ^ "The Dreaming". The Dreaming Festival. Archived from the original on 24 May 2005. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Australia's International Indigenous Festival". The Dreaming Festival. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2022.