By Phil O’Brien
In Part One Phil O’Brien talked about his early days working at the crocodile farm in north-east Arnhem Land and meeting up with the leader of the Yothu Yindi band and the sowing of the seeds for the first Garma Festival.
If you haven’t already you can read Part One of this tale here
As I noted at the end of Part One, at the first (unofficial) Garma Festival we were cooking on an open fire. Everything went well, and the nearby Gumatj cattle farm brought in a big mob of steak for everyone.
I’m not sure but they must have chased the cow around for a few hours before they shot it because it was a tough piece of meat, but it didn’t matter because it still tasted pretty good.
One night the toilet seat on the long drop got loose so I tightened it up and accidently knocked my torch down the hole!
Well, I’m not sticking my hand down there that’s for sure, so I left it and then later on a lady went in to use it, she lifted the lid, and a perfect beam of light came shining out and scared hell out of her, and she took off!
They were pioneering days, and it was Garma in all its early rustic glory.
Plenty of good people – Balanda and Yolngu – gave their time and support in getting the show on the road and I was just part of the team, and for all of us, the adventure had only just begun.
The first (official) Garma Festival – 1999
Then came 1999 and the first official Garma Festival. ‘Hang onto your undies,’ Munda reckoned, ‘This is gunna be big!
Sometime just prior to that first Garma in 1999 – I’m not sure if it was divine intervention or a donation from the Nhulunbuy Brickworks – but there standing solid and proud nestled among the Stringy Barks was a new Besser block toilet and shower set up!
It was spectacular!
I mean I’ve seen Uluru at sunset, but this new shitter was even more panoramic.
I nearly broke down and wept!
Things were really happening, and for weeks before the festival started there was a small team of blokes building shade structures and stuff and mowing grass, much to the surprise of quite a few snakes that lived there.
Like I said before, money was pretty tight in those days so there was a fair few trips to the Nhulunbuy rubbish dump looking for materials and anything that we could utilise.
The first Garma kitchen was an old steel frame we borrowed from somewhere with a tarp thrown over the top and a few palm fronds chucked on just to give it some style.
Our food came out from town then stored in a chiller container, then from there straight into the pot, so everything was tasty, fresh and healthy.
A run in with the bureaucracy
Just before the festival kicked off two government health officials turned up and they gave me a bit of a grilling.
They rocked up like a couple of gangsters, I remember one bloke put his face right in front of mine and reckoned ‘If you stuff up we are gunna come down hard mate…real hard’!
For a minute there I thought he was going to butt his cigarette out on my forehead…it was like a scene from the Godfather.
Fair enough though, this was serious business, and although they rattled me up a bit, over the course of the festival they were a great help, and we became quite good friends.
Without going into it too deeply it was a real struggle in those early years regarding facilities like power and water, toilets, showers and just about everything in general, but it never took away from the beauty of what was happening, and what it was all about.
The day finally came and Garma kicked off, a gentle breeze caressing its way across the escarpment paradise of Gulkula, a place full of spirit and songlines of the past.
Day one – Gulkula and Garma
The sun shone brightly down on this moment in history.
Yidaki (didgeridoo) and Bilma (clapsticks) rang out and echoed through the woodland. Great minds with good hearts had come together … this was Garma.
From my vantage point at the Garma kitchen I got to meet some wonderful people – there were University Professors, Politicians, Artists, Actors, Anthropologists – just all sorts of people.
I think around two hundred Balanda and several hundred Yolngu were camped out at Gulkula.
Campfire songs and bunggul
At night we sat around the campfire and listened to the likes of Paul Kelly, and shared stories and songs. Everyone camping out immersing themselves in what Garma had to offer.
Every day in the late afternoon was Yolngu ceremony or bunggul which held the visitors spellbound.
Culture was being shared, relationships were being formed and a foundation for the future was being constructed.
Garma was weaving its magic.
The Garma kitchen in all its tarp covered glory was pumping out food like there was no tomorrow.
The small team really rose to the occasion, although looking back there were a few awkward moments.
Skippy on a plate, vegan chicken and a special bone stew for Kim Beazley
One lunch we cooked these Kangaroo fillets with salad, and everyone come filing past for a feed, and one lady politely asked me what is the meat?
I said Kangaroo and placed a big bit and a small bit on her plate, and said the small bit was the Joey.
Well … bloody hell, she didn’t take that real well, she got quite upset just didn’t see the funny side!
Then one evening a girl turns up and I think she was a volunteer helping out around the place, and she asked me what was the vegan meal that night?
I’d heard the word Vegan only a few times before in my life and I knew it was something to do with not eating meat. I wasn’t that worldly in those days, but I pointed out in all sincerity that we cooked a big Chicken Curry and rice and I suggested she just have the juice.
Now, to say she got upset would be a slight understatement, I thought she was gunna jump the counter and flog me!
I suppose the most embarrassing thing that happened was when it was time to cook some big stews.
I got the team together and gesturing to four big pots I explained: “Tonight we’re gotta make a big stew and if we fill the four pots we should have plenty!” and I showed everyone the big bags of diced steak and I had a big bag of bones to put in as well for that nice beefy gravy, plus a heap of vegies.
What could possibly go wrong?
The ladies went to work on the four stews and later that night I’m out the front serving it up. One pot, all good, people looked happy, two pots down, three pots down, all good.
Then it was time for the fourth pot, and I lifted the lid to serve and it’s a pot full of bones, they were cooked and there were some vegies but basically mostly bones and there in front of me was politician big Kim Beazley holding out his plate!
I had no choice but to say, “How do you like your bones, Kim?” Kim looked at me slightly confused and at that precise moment two words echoed around in my mind … shame and job.
Kim was gracious as he doubled up on bread, but I don’t think he’d be recommending me for any catering positions down in Canberra.
At a debrief later the kitchen team bar one reckoned they don’t use bones when they make a stew, it wasn’t how they cook a stew, and one lady complaining about having to cook with all bones ‘cause there was no meat left.
Big Names, No Stage, Big Fun
Anyway, I think we laughed it off, it was all part of the thrills and spills of flying by the seat of your pants.
Garma sailed on, the sweet smell of campfires filling the evening air, songs, yarns, ceremony, and camaraderie growing.
Then finally the last day came, and it was time for the big concert to wind up proceedings.
At that time there was no stage at Garma so the concert was to be at the new recording studio and stage just past the Gunyangara community.
So, everyone moved down there for the evening I think on buses and whatever transport was going.
The setting was magnificent with the sun going down over Melville Bay and the atmosphere was electric.
Fortunately for me one of the support bands didn’t make it and so I filled in with a few songs with Jack Thompson playing harmonica.
Jack was a mighty bloke and has become the Patron of Garma and given the name Gulkula and he carries his title with pride. Playing a few with Jack was a real highlight.
I’m not sure what it sounded like but we enjoyed it!
Saltwater Band played and had the crowd in the palm of their hands, followed by legend George from Warumpi Band playing solo.
George was one of the best live performers I ever saw – during one song he was so into it he had tears just streaming down his face.
Then came something anyone that was there will never forget …
Yothu Yindi rocking out on their home turf!
Munda in full flight leading the charge, ancient melodies coming from deep down in the earth, rising through the yidaki and bilma, picking up some contemporary rock along the way and then blasting itself out of the speakers!
That was Yothu Yindi, unique, exciting and powerful.
The crowd of Yolngu and Balanda danced, went wild, and just soaked it up.
Farewell to the first Garma Festival, welcome to the next twenty-five!!
What a night and what a week it had been, Garma 1999 went down in history as an undeniable success.
Of course there were some things to iron out, but it was all now a reality.
The potential had been unlocked and everyone that was there was there again the following year, and over the next twenty-five years they’ve come from everywhere!
As the great man said, ‘This is gunna be big!’
Nowadays there are television crews and journalists, political, health and education forums, and Garma is now a leading platform to discuss national and international Indigenous issues.
It’s broadcast live around Australia and into the lounge rooms of millions of everyday Aussies who had never realised just how strong and unique Yolngu culture is.
Gone now is the humble long drop toilet, the chicken curry cooked on the fire, the bone stew, or the meanderings around the Nhulunbuy rubbish tip looking for materials.
As Munda predicted, ‘This is gunna be big!’
And it still is all these years later.
A lot of people deserve to be thanked and recognised throughout the twenty-five years of Garma, but someone more important than me can do that.
A lot of blood, sweat and tears have soaked into that red ochre country on that beautiful escarpment at Gulkula.
Never forget that every step we take there is a step on sacred ground, because something that started as just a dream has outlived a lot of the people that dared to dream it.
Phil O’Brien
July 2025
If you haven’t already you can read Part One of this tale here
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A gifted observer and storyteller Phil O’Brien comes from the Northern Territory of Australia. His lack of formal education has been no drawback, and his creativity and passion to entertain and share a story has shone through. Phil O’Brien is well known as nomadic, and a bloke that isn’t burdened by financial security.
To see – and hear – more of Phil O’Brien head over to The Good The Bad and the Nomadic to hear some ‘epic stories from a bloke who was just taking life “one beer at a time”’ at Bandcamp. “
You can also grab a copy of You Can Always Find Someone To Have A Beer With!: The Phil O’Brien Collection at the ubiquitous Amazon.
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