Four days of song, dance, film and festivities encompassed Port Augusta on the weekend, with many locals supporting the Yarnballa Arts and Cultural Festival.
The four-day event began with a matinee and evening performance of Petroglyphs - Signs of Life by Leigh Warren and Dancers and indigenous choreographer Gina Rings.
Crowds sprawled the edges of the old Port Augusta barracks to witness the collaboration of traditional song and dance by elders and contemporary choreography.
The performance explored some of the unique elements of the Australian landscape, language and people through the oldest known form of visual communication, petroglyphs.
The dance was performed by both indigenous and non-indigenous dancers.
Friday night was host to an array of activities for the official opening ceremony.
More than 1000 people brought their chairs and rugs to the foreshore to see the lantern procession across the old bridge.
The lanterns were carried by the general public along with Carlton R-12 school students, Port Augusta Youth Centre and the Tji Tji Wiru youth program at Davenport Community
Yarnballa artistic director Diat Alferink said the lanterns were one of the main highlights of the ceremony.
The ceremony was taken out by local performers in Port Augusta.
Workshops held by Kurruru Youth Arts supported locals in creating the performance.
The all day concert on Saturday also had a good turnout.
Aboriginal acts from around Australia came to deliver a memorable day.
David Crombie, The Brolga Boys and Whyalla hip-hop band Shadows were some of the acts that entertained the crowd.
The main act No Fixed Address also performed to a large event to end the performance on a high note.
Families capped off the inaugural Yarnballa Arts and Cultural Festival with a day of activities on Sunday.
The family day followed three days of cultural understanding between 35 different indigenous language groups represented in the festival.
About 300 community members and visitors took part in the day at Gladstone Square.
Families were entertained with Aboriginal Inma dancing late in the afternoon as other spectators opted to sit in the cool of the Institute Theatre and watch digital storytelling.
The films were made by community members and presented in conjunction with the Media Resource Centre to a changing crowd, Ms Alferink said.
“It was a really enjoyable day with lots for the whole family to do,” she said.
“There was a lot of people who took part in all the activities there.”
Children took part in painting workshops while parents socialised and watched dance and music before kicking on into the early hours of the morning after the closing ceremony.
The festival will be an annual event for the city, with organisers predicting growth in popularity in the future.
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