Mitch Tambo Announces 2024 Walanbaa Youth Tour

Mitch Tambo has shared details for this year’s Walanbaa Youth Tour, performing in 35 cities around Australia – with more shows still to be announced – in support of his titular cultural empowerment initiative.

Announced on social media yesterday (February 26), the tour will see Tambo visit “youth hubs and places of learning to empower and entertain children and young people”. It kicks off this Thursday (February 29) with a show in Cape Schnack – a town in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula region – followed by a show in Balnarring on Saturday March 2.

From there, Tambo will perform four shows in Hoppers Crossing – one on every Tuesday in March – with a Lorne date squeezed in there on Wednesday March 20. He’ll then move on to a lengthy stretch of shows in New South Wales, performing in the following cities throughout the entirety of April and first half of May: Orange, Hillston, Young, Budgewoi, Avoca Beach, Leichhardt, Castle Hill, Newtown, Minto, Summer Hill, Miller, Gunnedah, Blackville, Walcha, Bellingen, Casino and Tarrington.

Tambo will then return to Victoria for another ten shows – performing in Mount Waverley, California Gully, Moe, Welshpool, Merbein, Miners Rest, Hoppers Crossing (again), Wallan, Ferntree Gulley and Seymour – before launching into a smaller NSW stint comprising dates in Rozelle, Merrylands, Shortland, Toronto, Rathmiles, Kramback, Chipping Norton and Beaumont Hills.

Another short block of Victorian dates will follow, taking Tambo to Upwey, Doncaster and Mitcham, before he plays four shows in the ACT: Curtin on Sunday July 28, then both Red Hill and Florey on Tuesday July 30, and finally Chisholm on Wednesday July 31.

Rounding out the tour (as we know it so far) will be another NSW show in Moama, slates for Thursday August 1, followed by one more Victorian gig in Bendigo the day after (August 2), then a one-off show in the Western Australian town of Mirrabooka on Monday August 5, and a final NSW show in Oyster Bay on Wednesday August 14.

Voice Of Lele will be joining Tambo on selected dates, with the latter boasting that she’ll be “sharing her inspiring refugee workshops” with the audiences. See the full list of dates in Tambo’s post below:

The artist, political activist and proud Gamilaraay man launched Walanbaa to support Indigenous youth around Australia – the organisation’s website describes it as an “empowerment-based initiative” that has “a strong emphasis on reaching Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth”.

So the official breakdown continues: “Walanbaa, which means Strong, celebrates cultural diversity and works across cultures to strengthen the future for all families. Mitch’s team aims to deliver interactive programs and resources that are driven through a culturally sensitive framework empowering participants to engage with identity, self-belief, cultural location and even career pathways.

“The Walanbaa practitioners offer traditional and contemporary inclusions suitable for children and young people of all ages. Ultimately, Walanbaa aims to empower participants to make strong positive choices for their lives.”

Tambo’s most recent release was the Christmas single Away In A Manger, which arrived last December following Yugal Yulu-gi that May, and the Reigan collab Great Southern Land in February.