Community-led Music Festival at Doomadgee
QMF was proud to partner with Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council to support Dumaji Muzik Festival, with funding from Inspiring Australia Queensland.
The festival was held on October 3rd at the Doomadgee Rodeo Grounds in the Gulf Country of Far North Queensland, on the traditional lands of the Gangalidda, Waayni, Garawa and Yunjulla peoples.
How it Started
The festival began with a conversation in Gimuy/Cairns. While delivering media and radio workshops at Dream Aloud Festival, QMF met Elijah Douglas, a Doomadgee local, DMC Boys band member and manager of the Doomadgee Radio Station. Elijah shared hopes that Doomadgee would someday have a festival just like Dream Aloud, and asked if QMF could support his vision.
Over the following months, QMF met with Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council and the community to start planning the event. Funding from Inspiring Australia Queensland then made QMF’s contribution possible, allowing us to travel to Doomadgee and help produce the event, including Taitu’uga’s workshop and performance.
Community Music Workshops
QMF presented Taitu’uga Kitch Welshe, an MC, songwriter and cultural facilitator with more than 20 years’ experience working across music, culture and community. Inspiring Australia Queensland funded both his workshop and his festival performance.
The free beatboxing and music workshop was designed to open the community’s eyes to new music genres through Taitu’uga’s beatboxing and live looping, and to get creative juices flowing so participants could write songs together. Many students and youth groups took part in the free youth and community workshops QMF delivered in the lead-up to the festival.
A Samoan High Chief and beatboxer, Taitu’uga spoke with young artists about his path into music and his relationship with culture and contemporary music. The cultural focus of his conversation and performance struck a chord with the students.
The students then wrote raps in English and their traditional languages, as each band member speaks a different language. The workshop’s final outcome was Taitu’uga gifting the DMC Boys three songs to write music to.
Building on the Future
The festival was a success, with more than half the town coming out to support. Performers included Tess Fapani, Sandridge Band, Mufassa & The Summer Haze, DMC Boys, Taitu’uga, Gary James and the Doomadgee Dancers, bringing the community together for a beautiful evening of music.
The future is looking bright for Doomadgee and the DMC Boys. Just a week after performing at their hometown festival, the rising band took another big step forward, supporting Arnhem Land rock legends King Stingray and showcasing the incredible talent emerging from their community.
QMF looks forward to continuing our relationship and collaborations with the band and community, to keep developing the festival and building local capacity.
If you would like to learn more about supporting community-led festivals in regional and remote Queensland, please reach out to [email protected] or visit our website: Support Us.