Dance festival crowd growing in numbers
PLANS will soon start for the next Laura Dance Festival in 2019 following this year’s record breaking event.
This year, 9000 people attended the festival last weekend. It was double the number at the 2015 event.
Event planner Tracey Ludwick said it took about a year and a half to plan the festival, which is held in remote Cape York every two years.
The planning begins with Ms Ludwick speaking with the many different Aboriginal community groups involved to hear feedback on the dance challenge.
The Cape York Aboriginal Dance Challenge shield was a source of pride for all the communities, but could often spark controversy between communities, who were likely to disagree with how the dance challenge was run.
Ms Ludwick said she always sought feedback from all community groups to keep the challenge in line with their cultural protocols.
“It’s very highly contested … some communities might disagree,” she said.
“The festival is unlike any event where you just have people coming in.
“I think if you can crack this festival, you can crack anything.”
Ms Ludwick said more than 20 community dance groups were part of the festival, from Bamaga down to Yarrabah.
“It was just a huge positive vibe around the area,” she said.
The festival includes information stalls and community stalls selling traditional food.
“It’s about the sharing of culture between the indigenous and non-indigenous people,” Ms Ludwick said.
“People are counting down the days until the next festival in two years.”
Ms Ludwick will begin planning soon. “There are a lot of things that I need to tighten up around the dance challenge,” she said.
“So I need to go back to the communities.
“They are the only ones to guide me around Ludwick said. that,” Ms
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