Crocodiles, Myf's Mix Tape & Gurrumul: It's Barunga Festival Day One

When I was asked if I wanted to head to the NT for a small festival in the middle of nowhere, I jumped at the opportunity.

My comfort zone is usually nicely cordoned off but I'm on a mission to see every state in Australia and this ticks a big part of it off, that I know I wouldn't have entertained for a personal holiday. Getting the chance to see how a small Aboriginal community operates was also high on my list of curiosities, so I packed my things and bought a sweet fedora (not the lame kind, promise) and headed off for Darwin with no idea what to expect.

Friday morning and we're on the road! Fellow journos Myf Warhurst and Vicki Kerrigan pick me up from my hotel in Darwin in a cute little campervan and we set off for the outback, driving through the tropical haven that is Darwin's suburbs, full of tall palm trees and lush greenery. I expected NT to be drier, but it's really not. The drive out towards Adelaide River is earthy and red, with hundreds of termite mounds literally taller than human beings, but there are still plenty of plants around as we head south. Vicki plays tour guide, pointing out that the locals dress up the colossal termite mounds in clothes and hats, and we stop in at Adelaide River Inn to stretch our legs and say g'day to the taxidermy buffalo - Charlie from the Crocodile Dundee movies, in fact - whose final resting place is in this pub. 

We plough on - the road is flat and the bitumen new but the campervan is rocking around so much for me at the back I kinda feel like I should be wearing a sports bra! I'm enjoying Myf's butt-themed playlist probably a little too much (hello Baby Got Back, Bootylicious and The Thong Song) but before long the music is old school and we're singing it loud. 

We can't unsee the signs warning us that crocodile feeding times start at 7pm.

We stop in at Nitimuluk National Park to go for a swim at Edith Falls and it is GORGEOUS. Vicki (the local) has freestyled her away into the depths within minutes but Myf and I (the tourists) are a little wary because we can't unsee the signs warning us that crocodile feeding times start at 7pm (what if they get peckish now?). We go in and don't regret it one bit.

We finally reach Barunga at dusk and find that the entire town has turned into a campgrounds for Barunga Festival. There are no barriers, no ID check boomgates, just a slew of campervans, swags and tents strewn under trees and through the streets of the small community. The turn-out is decent for a Friday night with only a few things on, but you can tell the excitement is building. Many of us (okay, only me then) are in awe of the bat infestation Barunga has - there are l i t e r a l l y thousands of bats circling the town and the orangey hues of the sky. They smell like sweaty old man BO and it's definitely a little foreboding but also a stunning sight! 

I get set up in the "motel" which is actually just a set of demountable rooms with air conditioning, things to make my bed with and a wardrobe. And a hot shower. Good enough for me! There's also a family of puppies living under the units so you know, I kind of have everything I need. 

I'm told Katie Noonan's over there having a boogie as we speak.

The food area is festive - fairy lights, bunting and a decorative tractor guard a series of food trucks selling nachos, Chinese food, pies and coffee. The people here tonight are mainly the Barunga locals, a bunch of travelling families and people affiliated with the event. The pulsing sounds of the children's disco flows from the basketball court - organised by the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation, Barunga's children's disco is held entirely by the children in the community themselves. I'm told Katie Noonan's over there having a boogie as we speak. Over at the main stage, they're screening the ten entries of the Road Safety Short Film Competition, an adorable way of teaching the important tenets of road safety to locals who often fall victim to drink driving, not wearing their seatbelt or playing in the road.

The children's disco is genuinely going off! There's a couple of, like, three or four year-old girls twerking it like they've been doing it in utero, guys popping and locking, a bunch of kids plain old jumping around with their mates (the white kids, let's be honest), all to the sounds of the young indigenous DJs. Rihanna's Work is an anthem, as is DJ Snake's Turn Down For What. It seems the entire community has come down to watch the action and us visitors can merely stand by in awe at the fun the kids are having.

B2M take the stage for a couple of songs and things get a little moshpitty for a while. Later the floor is emptied for a dance trio to strut their stuff, after which Gurrumul makes a surprise appearance to perform with Manuel Dhurrkay. The whole children's disco is so fun to watch and be involved in and it feels so organic - not like it's part of a festival at all.

Uppy Chatterjee was flown to Northern Territory as a guest of Barunga Festival.