Now in its ninth year, the Guringai Festival celebrates Aboriginal culture and heritage, honouring the traditional homelands of the Guringai people. It aims to raise awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the Northern Sydney region and involves ten councils. Festival events include guided tours of Aboriginal sites, bushwalks, exhibitions and screenings.
The Festival coincides with the International Year of Astronomy enabling Koories to participate with many Dreaming stories about the relationship between ancestral beings, the sun, moon, stars and planets.
Susan Moylan-Coombs and Caroline Glass-Pattison, Co-Chairs, Guringai Festival Committee. Susan says: “We hope locals and the wider community enjoy this year’s Guringai Festival and all the events it has to offer across the Northern Sydney region, the traditional homelands of the Guringai people,”
Caroline Glass-Pattison is an Indigenous woman who works as a Community Development Officer at the Benevolent Society. She says “I believe in social justice and linking Aboriginal people to each other.” She works on the Social plan with Susan Moylan Coombs.
The festival involves numerous reconciliation and community groups across New South Wales.