Yellamundie Festival develops and presents new First Peoples stories for the stage and includes a series of national & international industry gatherings to be held at Carriageworks in September, 2025. A showcase for new and distinct voices in the Australian Performing Arts. Yellamundie Festival is a biennial celebration of national and international storytellers. From a ...
Moogahlin Performing Arts
Yellamundie Festival – A National Gathering of First Peoples Storytellers

GOAL
$50,000
Field of Interest
- Arts and culture
- First Nations communities
Target Population
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- Professional workforce

Moogahlin Performing Arts is New South Wales’ leading First Peoples performing arts company. We develop, produce, and present new works
that are by, with and for our communities. We are committed to First Peoples arts practitioners locally, regionally and nationally by building platforms for emerging and established artists.
A not for profit incorporated association co-located on Gadigal country in Redfern and in Brewarrina on Ngemba country. Moogahlin Performing Arts was formed in November 2007, by a group of First Peoples artists, educators and community workers (Lily Shearer, and Liza-Mare Syron and Frederick Copperwaite) honouring the request of the late Kevin Smith; and in honour of founding members of the National Black Theatre. Moogahlin now consists of a dedicated team of artists and arts administrators, operating as a resident company of Carriageworks and in Brewarrina.
Project Summary
Yellamundie Festival develops and presents new First Peoples stories for the stage and includes a series of national & international industry gatherings to be held at Carriageworks in September, 2025.
A showcase for new and distinct voices in the Australian Performing Arts. Yellamundie Festival is a biennial celebration of national and international storytellers.
From a national call for submissions, six new works will undergo two weeks of development and are presented in a three-day festival of public showings, yaans, and events in Sydney in September 2025.
Since 2021 the Yellamundie Festival showcases a range of live performance art forms, providing development opportunities for Playwrights, Composers, and Choreographers.
“Yellamundie” is a Dharug word meaning “storyteller”.
Yellamundie Festival is a trademark of Moogahlin Performing Arts and must be credited using the full project name, and never be abbreviated to just the language word.
Project Outcomes
YELLAMUNDIE FESTIVAL IMPACT
Yellamundie Festival is the only Festival of its kind in Australia.
Yellamundie Festival was born from the National Indigenous Theatre Forum held in Cairns in 2010, there was a call for a return of the National Aboriginal Playwrights Conference. Moogahlin’s Co-Founders Lily Shearer, Liza-Mare Syron, and Frederick Copperwaite, responded and spent the next three years working towards this goal.
Since the first Festival in 2013 and including 2023 Moogahlin has developed and showcased 44 First Peoples works, including four international works in partnership with our cousin companies Tawata Productions & Te Rehia Theatre (Aotearoa New Zealand) and Native Earth Performing Arts (Turtle Island Canada).
So far seventeen works have gone on to full production in Australia.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $200,000
FUNDING
Funding source | Amount |
---|---|
Funding Gap | $50,000 |
EXPENSES
Expense item | Amount |
---|---|
Total Project Costs | $200,000 |
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