Saturday

An acrid lament of white smoke coming from the car in the middle of  some no-signal country road brought with it the sad realisation I wouldn’t be able to reach the first day of my first Four Winds Festival.

Once I’d arrived on Saturday, co-Executive Director Greg Lissaman filled me in. Though thunder and lightning brought an early end to the opening program, it had been hard to dissuade the audience from the performances. All credit to the festival’s creative team and Creative Director and cellist Matthew Hoy for weaving together a gorgeous program for the 23rd Four Winds.

This edition orbited around two interlinked approaches with Indigenous voice, identity and language at the forefront of programming, alongside the natural environment the Festival is surrounded by. Hoy also became an occasional part of the Four Winds Festival Orchestra – a mix of local, Australian and international musicians who joined forces especially for the festival, led by the baton of Benjamin Northey.

With such a wide variety of performances, there were bound to be some that connect with audience members more than others. Regardless, every act that took the...