North Coast TAFE’s Casino, Kempsey and Great Lakes Campuses will host the popular ‘Deadly Days’ Festivals in early September with hundreds of young Aboriginal people expected to attend, along with and many Elders and members of the community and 60 exhibitors from business and community groups.
Funded by the Australian Government as part of the Community Festivals for Education Engagement initiative, and staged by North Coast TAFE’s Aboriginal Learning Partnerships (NCALP) Team, the Festival encourages increased participation by young Aboriginal people in education, training and employment.
North Coast TAFE Director of Aboriginal Learning Partnerships, Ms Heather McGregor says that the day is a ‘come one, come all’ event, with performances by the headline acts, popular Hip Hop workshops, sessions with sporting heroes and other high profile Aboriginal people and healthy cultural food on the menu.
Stan Walker, the winner of last year’s Australian Idol, will perform at the Festival. “I was so thrilled to be invited to be part of this – Jessica Mauboy did it last year and told me how deadly it was – I can’t wait to meet you all and perform for you,” said Stan.
He will be joined by several other Australian idols and Aboriginal role models.
Popular NSW Rugby League players will have different roles. Dragon’s winger Wendell Sailor will host the day, and Nathan Blacklock will conduct sporting clinics.
Legendary performer Jimmy Little will attend the Casino event where he will perform a number of his popular songs. Video clips of his performances will played on the day at the other two venues.
Indigenous Education Ambassadors Auntie May O’Brien from Perth and Auntie Alice Rigney from Adelaide will also participate.
The venues for the festivals are:
- Casino’s Queen Elizabeth Park on Wednesday 1 September
- Kempsey Campus Thursday 2 September
- Great Lakes Campus Friday 3 September