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Parrtjima – A Festival in Light has wrapped up its fifth successful event in the Red Centre. With the theme ‘Lifting Our Spirits’, Parrtjima 2020 attracted more than 17,000 attendances to the spectacular festival over 10 nights in Alice Springs.

Parrtjima is the only event of its kind in the world, celebrating Aboriginal art, culture and storytelling through extraordinary light, art and sound installations. It has gone from strength to strength since launching in 2016.

This year guests enjoyed the breathtaking light & sound show over 2km of the MacDonnell Ranges and large-scale interactive light installations alongside Deep Listening talks, musical performances, and cooking and watercolour painting workshops, all surrounded by the desert landscape at Alice Springs Desert Park.

Parrtjima is presented by the Northern Territory Government through the Northern Territory Major Events Company and produced by creative directors AGB Events. This year’s theme, ‘Lifting our Spirits’, was perfectly timed to nurture a sense of community, connection and joy during what has been a difficult year, Parrtjima Curator and AGB First Nations Advisor Rhoda Roberts AO said.

“What a wonderful ten days Parrtjima 2020 has been.  Gathering in a unique environment for our deep listening conversations, the beauty of the large scale light installations and the ebb and flow of Country as witnessed in the spectacular Ranges show.  Parrtjima 2020 has shown us the importance of listening and learning the oral way – encouraged by elders, custodians and guardians of language.” she said.

“Parrtjima is definitely a once in a lifetime pilgrimage that all Australians should make. Under the desert skies, surrounded by ancient landscapes that shift and shape each generation, the oldest living culture on earth continues to share its lessons as they have since time immemorial. A favourite has been seeing the joy of children playing on a carpet of art works projected onto the desert sands as part of our ‘Grounded’ installation. The laughter and smiles are transformative and guarantees they will always have incredible memories of fun and sharing when remembering Parrtjima – what a future.” she said.

Northern Territory Government Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Major Events, Natasha Fyles, confirmed the much-loved event will return from 9-18 April 2021.

“Parrtjima is like no other event in Australia. It is a spell-binding combination of art, light and culture, which strikes a chord with the thousands of people who visit. If you couldn’t visit this year, we hope you can join us in 2021, when the theme for Parrtjima will be ‘FUTURE KULTCHA’,” she said.

For more information and to enjoy a short tour of Parrtjima online, visit www.parrtjimaaustralia.com.au.