Kempsey celebrates culture and achievements at NAIDOC Dinner Dance

Published on 15 July 2022

an Elvis Presley impersonator singing to a woman

The NAIDOC Dinner Dance took place at Slim Dusty Centre on Saturday 9 July 2022 celebrating our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and achievements.

Around 200 residents attended the NAIDOC Dinner Dance for an evening filled with cultural performances to honour the past and to celebrate the future.

Jodie Barsby and Joshua Donohue were MCs for the celebration, introducing a line-up of local Aboriginal people that have continuously served the local community and fantastic performances by Lady Gargles, Felicia Foxx and Elvis before the music played and the dancing began. The family of Dunghutti man Dave Sands attended, giving moving speeches about Dave’s life and achievements and bringing his Commonwealth Championship Belt with them along with other boxing memorabilia.

This night was a great example of honouring the past and celebrating the future and of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community coming together to celebrate NAIDOC Week.

Congratulations to Annette Lawrence and the Kempsey NAIDOC committee on a wonderful evening and pulling together another great collection of NAIDOC Week celebrations.

This year's NAIDOC Week theme called on the community to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! for systemic change and rally around our mob, our Elders and our communities.