We had a chat with one of the volunteers, Nicholas Buxton from Dentons, to learn a bit more about what it was like on the ground at the 2024 Lilla Sports & Storytelling Festival.

"The festival was packed full of fun activities," says Nicholas. "We ran sport sessions like basketball and AFL, drama and arts activities – such as reading, painting and drawing – as well as cooking classes with the chef from Kings Canyon Resort, where the students were lucky to make and eat Vietnamese rolls. We also ran a few activities outside of Lilla, including attending Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience Tour, led by members of the local community in Wanmarra, watching a lights show at Kings Canyon Resort, and walking the Kings Canyon river walk at sunset – it was magical."

On Thursday morning, a helicopter landed on the oval at Lilla for the first time in Sports & Storytelling Festival history. "You couldn’t wipe the smiles from the students’ faces as it was flying in, even when the fast spinning rotor blades kicked a bunch of red dust into all of our faces," says Nicholas.  "The pilots Cal and Emily were legends and gave a great talk to the students about why it was 'Cool to Go to School' – the theme of the Festival."

The focus of the Sports & Storytelling Festival is to encourage primary-school aged Aboriginal students to attend school and to appreciate the benefits and value of an education. By hosting workshops that are both fun and educational, and giving students the opportunity to form relationships with students from other schools of similar ages who speak the same traditional language, the Festival aims to assist in closing the school attendance gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

"Events such as the Sports & Storytelling Festival are so important for cultivating a positive attitude towards schooling, particularly amongst students that face many barriers to obtaining an education," says Nicholas. "The Festival promoted learning in a safe, relaxed and fun environment, and I think this method of delivery really resonated with the students over the Festival."

A key theme of the Festival was promoting education as an avenue towards obtaining local jobs on Country or otherwise in rural Northern Territory. "I thought this was such a great theme as it introduced a really practical idea – that the students could stay on Country in their communities while leading fulfilling lives, and that getting a job doesn’t mean they have to move away or do something that isn't important to them and their culture."

Dentons is a longstanding friend and supporter of the Watarrka Foundation who has been involved in the Foundation's projects since 2011 and the annual Sports & Storytelling Festival since 2014. Delivering events like the Sports & Storytelling Festival takes a lot of resources, planning and hard work. If it wasn’t for the Watarrka Foundation, Remote Tours NT, Discovery Parks, Dentons, Have a Ball Foundation and all of the volunteers and teachers all pitching in – it simply wouldn’t be able to happen. 

The Watarrka Foundation would like to extend a huge thank you to all the amazing volunteers, supporters and contributors to the 2024 Lilla Sports & Storytelling Festival, and in particular to the Traditional Owners at Lilla for inviting us back again this year. It is only with the help of our supporters that we are able to make meaningful projects like this years’ Festival a reality for the remote Aboriginal students of the Watarrka Region.

"To me, minimising educational disparities is critical if we are to achieve true equality amongst all Australians, and reconciliation more broadly," says Nicholas. "I feel very proud to be a part of the firm that takes this goal seriously, and extremely fortunate that I was able to attend the Lilla Sports & Storytelling Festival – I hope the team will have me back next year!"

This year the Watarrka Foundation would especially like to thank Discovery Resorts for its generosity and partnership in sponsoring this years’ Lilla Sports and Storytelling Festival. The Foundation is extremely fortunate and grateful to partner with Discovery Resorts on initiatives to support the education and experiences of Aboriginal school children in and around Kings Canyon in the Watarrka region of Central Australia. 

Calling for Donations this End of Financial Year

There is still time to make a donation to the Watarrka Foundation before this end of financial year! We are a registered Deductible Gift Recipient charity, so all donations over $2 are tax deductible and we will provide you with a full tax receipt. Your donation will help support a sustainable environment, education, healthy lifestyles and independent livelihoods for Aboriginal communities in the Watarrka region and help support projects like the annual Sports & Storytelling Festival. Click here to make a contribution. 

To support the Foundation and our projects within the Northern Territory, make a donation at www.givenow.com.au/watarrkafoundation