YIRRAMBOI Festival 2027 announces four major First Nations commissions for Melbourne premiere

YIRRAMBOI, Melbourne's First Peoples festival, has commissioned four ambitious new works for its 2027 edition. The festival, whose name means 'Tomorrow' in Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung languages, will premiere these projects in narrm/Melbourne in May 2027. Supported through the YIRRAMBOI Commissions Program, the initiative provides Victorian First Nations artists with resources for community-rooted creative sovereignty. Sherene Stewart, YIRRAMBOI Festival Co-Lead/Artistic Lead, emphasized backing artists to create on their own terms, noting that senior artists and cultural leaders from past festivals return as pillars of the 2027 program. Emily Wells, Co-Lead/Executive Lead, highlighted the festival's commitment to ambitious, self-determined commissioning despite sector uncertainty. City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece praised the investment in First Nations creativity grounded in culture and truth-telling. The commissioned works include GANBINAN!, an album and live experience in Yorta Yorta language by Allara and Dr Lou Bennett AM; Somewhere Over the Blak Rainbow, a theatrical street-based songline by Bryan Andy honoring Aboriginal LGBTQIA+ histories; Withewa, a film project by Jedda Atkinson-Costa preserving Elders' stories; and What Yet, a contemporary circus work by Maggie Church-Kopp and Johnny Brown addressing cultural knowledge transfer. Each project involves extensive community consultation and cultural mentorship, with precise festival dates to be announced.