Over 4,000 people gathered on the sacred ground of the Gadigal people at the NCIE last Friday for the Inner City NAIDOC Family and Sports Day.
The centre was buzzing with excitement as people of all ages enjoyed the range of free entertainment and activities on offer.
The annual event brings together people of different cultures and backgrounds of Sydney’s inner city communities in a friendly and culturally infused environment to learn, respect and celebrate Indigenous Excellence.
Among the attendees on the day was the Governor-General of Australia his excellency general the honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (RETD) and Lady Cosgrove. The two chatted with community members including respected Redfern elders Aunty Millie Ingram and NCIE’s Job Ready Hospitality Ambassador Aunty Beryl Van Oploo and took part in some of the more ‘deadly’ activities.
City of Sydney Councillor Robert Kok, Deputy Whip in the NSW Legislative Assembly The Hon Ben Franklin and NSW Member for Newtown Jenny Leong also joined the celebrations.
The Indigenous Excellence Talent Quest had the best of young talent on show. ‘The Kool Jarjums’ were the crowds favourite and took home first prize for their deadly dance moves.
Thank you to everyone who entered a team in the Oz Tag competition and congratulations to The Randoms who won the title on the day.
THE DAY IN NUMBERS
This year we had 32 stallholders ranging from local organisations, businesses and artists.
Nearly 2,000 sausages and 240 slices of pizza were cooked and enjoyed on the day.
Over 100 volunteers from a range of organisations helped set-up, cook-up and clean-up.
THANK YOU
A big thank you to the individual stall holders and community members who have supported this year’s NAIDOC event and the commitment and dedication of the Inner City NAIDOC steering committee.
Feedback from many in the community has been that this year’s event was one of the biggest and best yet and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of our sponsors.
Thank you to our event partner AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) for their support and sponsorship in 2015.
Thank you also to Sir Peter and Lady Cosgrove, Department of Aboriginal Affairs, New Horizons, Redfern Community Centre, City of Sydney, Headspace, the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, SDN Children Services, Glebe Tree House, Koori Radio, ABC Local Radio, Weave, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Salesforce, NSW Health and Pyramid Trophies.
We look forward to seeing you all again next year.