NITV to share the culture, ceremony and critical conversations of the Garma Festival with all Australians
24 July, 2024
Media releases
Extensive multiplatform and multilingual coverage to feature across the SBS network, providing unparalleled access to the four-day event
As Official Media Supporter, NITV will broadcast live and comprehensive coverage of the annual Garma Festival in Gulkula, Gumatj Country, in remote northeast Arnhem Land, from 2 to 5 August 2024.
NITV and SBS will simulcast key forums and events, and a dedicated SBS On Demand Garma Festival hub home to all forums, panels and the daily bu gul.
SBS will provide multilingual coverage across more than 60 languages with SBS Audio, including with SBS Arabic and SBS Chinese journalists reporting on the ground.
NITV News: Nula broadcasts live on Friday 2 August on NITV and SBS as the festival gets underway, and NITV News: Garma will present highlights from the event as it comes to a close on Monday 5 August at 6pm on NITV and SBS.
NITV is proud to partner with the Yothu Yindi Foundation as the Official Media Supporter of the Garma Festival, and continues its long-running coverage of the event in the second year of a three-year partnership.
National Indigenous Television (NITV) will provide comprehensive coverage of the 24th annual Garma Festival, taking place 2-5 August in Gulkula, northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. With coverage also featuring across the SBS network, NITV and SBS will provide unparalleled access for all Australians to the agenda-setting dialogue and the celebration of the cultural, artistic and ceremonial traditions of the Yol u people, across the four-day event.
This year, Australia's largest political Indigenous gathering is taking place ahead of an impending Federal Election, upcoming state and territory elections, and is the first major political forum focused on Indigenous affairs since the Referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Coverage on NITV and across the SBS network will give Australians a front row seat to the critical conversations centred in the lived experience of First Nations peoples taking place, as political leaders, policy makers, corporate leaders and community representatives look to the future.
We can't wait to be back on the ground at Gulkula, red dirt between our toes, on the beautiful and sacred land of the Yol u people, said Tanya Denning-Orman, a proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman and Director of Indigenous Content at SBS.
Following the Referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and as Australia looks ahead to Federal, state and territory elections, NITV and SBS will provide unparalleled access to the critical conversations at Garma that influence political discourse, policy agendas, and commitments towards Indigenous affairs in Australia.
Whether it's insights and ideas discussed in key forums, or the sounds and movement of the daily bu gul, our comprehensive coverage led by NITV and featuring across the SBS network will give Australians an immersive experience across four days of yarning, dancing and listening, at Australia's most significant Indigenous political and cultural event.
NITV is proud to partner with the Yothu Yindi Foundation to continue bringing Garma to mob across the continent, as we've been doing for more than a decade. Through our coverage across the SBS network, we're connecting the oldest living continuous culture with the newest Australians, and are excited to continue exploring more ways to engage more Australians.
Denise Bowden, CEO of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, added: NITV has played an important role in sharing Garma with its audiences over many years, and has been a long-standing Official Supporter of the event. We look forward to continuing to work together to reach more Australians, as NITV and the wider SBS network expands and deepens its coverage, and gives communities wherever they are in Australia, an opportunity to explore the unique experience of Garma.
Daily live coverage, updates and highlights across NITV's platforms will be presented by NITV's Indigenous News and Current Affairs team including Head of Indigenous News and Current Affairs, Natalie Ahmat, SBS National Indigenous Affairs Editor and host of The Point: Road Trip, John Paul Janke, NITV News Presenter and Senior Producer, Michael Rennie, and more.
SBS will also simulcast key events from the festival, and SBS News will report from Garma, providing updates on SBS World News and its platforms, with Chief Political Correspondent, Anna Henderson, on the ground. The network will also provide unique multilingual coverage with representatives from SBS Chinese and Arabic teams also reporting from Gulkula, with news and updates to feature across the SBS Audio network in more than 60 languages.
NITV and the SBS network's comprehensive coverage schedule includes:
NITV News: Nula
Friday 2 August at 3pm, LIVE on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand
Join Natalie Ahmat and the NITV News team for a special edition of Nula, broadcast live from on the ground at the 24th Garma Festival at Gulkula, in northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Nula will provide a preview of events and insights into the issues and ideas to be discussed across the following days of the festival, with interviews, explainers, profiles and stories from the local region.
Garma Opening Ceremony
Friday 2 August at 4pm, LIVE on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand
NITV is bringing all the speeches and ceremony from the official opening of Garma 2024, live from Gulkula, a significant Yol u ceremonial site in northeast Arnhem Land.
Garma Bu gul
Saturday 3 August at 10.50pm, Sunday 4 August at 10.10pm, and Monday 5 August at 11:10am on NITV and SBS On Demand
As the sun sets on Gumatj Country in northeast Arnhem Land, Yol u clans gather for bu gu
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NITV to share the culture, ceremony and critical conversations of the Garma Festival with all Australians 
