Wagga Wagga City Council weekly newsletter
NAIDOC Week
celebrated loud and proud in Wagga Wagga
Celebrations have been held in Wagga Wagga for NAIDOC Week, held annually during the first week of July to recognise and celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Despite the rainy weather on Monday, a large crowd of First Nations people and members of the broader community turned up to the annual march down Baylis Street.
This was followed by the flag raising ceremony in the Civic Centre forecourt, including a Smoking Ceremony conducted by Uncle Hewitt Whyman, and a Welcome to Country by Aunty Isabel Reid.
The Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Australian flags were raised by local young First Nations people: Asher Brown, Elizabeth Niki and Angel Kruse.
This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud, which Aunty Isabel Reid expressed the importance of during her Welcome to Country.
“The theme, Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud, has a powerful meaning. It encourages us to speak our truth loudly and proudly about our
country’s history,” Aunty Isabel Reid said.
“It acknowledges that our Nation’s story began with the first footprints on this continent belonging to the First Nations people.”
Deputy Mayor Amelia Parkins and Councillor Jenny McKinnon attended the march and flag raising ceremony on Monday, joining Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga Councillor Dallas Tout, who was pleased with the commitment of the community to take part in the event.
“NAIDOC week is an important week for all Australians, and it was great to once again see a large turnout for the march and flag raising ceremony, despite the rainy weather,” Cr Tout said.
“Every year, First Nations people and members of the broader community, led by Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri community members, participate in NAIDOC Week events held in Wagga Wagga, which is great to see.”
All members of the community attended NAIDOC Week celebrations throughout the week, which included community events, BBQs, arts and crafts, a talent quest, trivia event, and a 3x3 Basketball Gala Day.
TRADITION: Local Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri person and didgeridoo player for the event, Ryder McDonnell, taking part in the Smoking Ceremony.
FUTURE LEADERS: Local young people participated in the flag raising ceremony; Angel Krause and Asher Brown from Kooringal High School, and Elizabeth Niki from Mount Austin High School.
Community
session.
Wagga Wagga 2050 engagement continues
Don’t miss your chance to shape Wagga Wagga’s future!
Since October last year Wagga Wagga City Council has been chatting with our local community to gather feedback and ideas for the Wagga Wagga 2050 Community Strategic Plan (CSP).
The plan will provide a roadmap for the long-term vision, aspirations, and main priorities for our local government area, and Council wants the community's help identifying these.
This can be done through the community members survey, business survey, online ‘I love our community’ blog, and in-person pop up stalls.
Recently launched, the Business Stakeholder Survey lets local business owners provide input, helping inform the development of Wagga Wagga 2050
This main round of community engagement will be wrapping up in August, with the business survey closing for submissions on Friday 16 August 2024.
There will be a pop-up stall on Friday 26 July 10.30am - 12pm located out the front of The Northshore Café, North Wagga Wagga.
Residents and community members will have the opportunity to stop by the stall and chat to a staff member about Wagga Wagga 2050 and provide feedback in-person.
Council’s Executive Manager, Regional Activation – Projects Christine Priest said Council is grateful for all the feedback received so far.
“People have wanted to engage with the process and we have been really impressed with the participation by community groups and individuals.
“It has included major infrastructure the community would like to see, and the type of community people would like to live in and how we can work together to support that.”
Council anticipates sharing a draft of the plan with the community in November this year, and will host a number of pop-up stalls for extra community feedback.
To have your say and fill out the survey, visit: haveyoursay.wagga.nsw.gov.au/ csp2050
Date/t ime: Saturday 13 July, 9am - 1pm (or until all seedlings are claimed) Ve nu e:
The Riverina Marine Centre, 3871 Sturt Hwy, Gumly Gumly Limit of 5 seedlings per household.
PLANNING THEIR FUTURE: Students from Mater Dei Catholic College studying a map at a Wagga Wagga 2050 school
LOUD AND PROUD: Members of the First Nations and broader community joined in the annual NAIDOC Week 2024 march down Baylis Street and the flag raising ceremony held in the Civic Centre forecourt on Monday.
Wagga Wagga City Council’s popular One Tree for Me program is returning for its fourth year of seedling giveaways, starting with a visit to Gumly Gumly on Saturday 13 July.
The initiative was launched in 2021 and aims to see 65,000 native seedlings
planted throughout our local area over a six-year period.
Environmental Education Officer
Christina Reid said Council will hold three free seedling giveaway events this year.
“We’ll be giving away another 6,000 seedlings to the community over the months of July, August and September because this is the best time to get your seedlings in the ground,” Ms Reid said.
“We choose different locations for the giveaways each time to try to spread them around and to provide everyone with access.
“All you have to do is turn up within the allotted time and we will give you a bag containing a small number of seedlings that are native to the local area and suited to the local climate.
“It's all part of our initiative to encourage people to grow the right sort of plants to support native wildlife, such as small birds and other important pollinators present in urban backyards –so we give away lots of smaller flowering plants, shrubs and ground covers.”
One Tree for Me is part of Council’s Biodiversity Strategy: Maldhangilanha 2020-2030, which sets Council’s path to protecting and enhancing biodiversity in
Events Officer Emma Corbett said.
“For this weekend only, you can weave and tangle your way through UV Spaghetti – an eight-metre long canopy of tactile light strands. You can enjoy the installation Shisk-Ka-Buoy, which are larger-than-life illuminated towers made from recycled marine buoys, that will pierce the night sky with a rainbow of neon colours.
“Be sure to look up in the trees for the neon silly string draping through the branches and add a striking, colourful feature to the Victory Memorial Gardens.
“Live music will be provided Friday and Saturday night, with a great line up of local and regional First Nations artists taking to the stage in celebration of NAIDOC Week.”
A silent disco experience, Silent DisFoW, will get festival-goers shimmying their way through the festival ground, as a fun, interactive way to experience the festival.
our local area.
In addition to the seedling giveaway, Council also holds community tree planting activities on community land and supports initiatives such as the Schools National Tree Day campaign and National Tree Day.
Ms Reid is full of gratitude to the local community for their strong support for the One Tree for Me initiative, which not only provides free seedlings but also promotes information about locally native plant species.
“We are exactly halfway through the campaign with three years of giveaways behind us and three more years to go,”
Ms Reid said.
“So far, 35,578 seedlings have been planted as a result of the campaign, so we are well on track to meet our target!”
The first One Tree for Me seedling giveaway for 2024 will be held on Saturday 13 July from 9am at Riverina Marine Centre, Sturt Highway, Gumly Gumly.
The team will be there until 1pm or until all seedlings are given away.
To find out more about the initiative, visit wagga.nsw.gov.au/onetreeforme
the evening of Monday 15 July 2024.
The Festival of W’s lighting activations turn on from 5pm to 10pm daily. For Skate Wagga Wagga tickets, festival details, set times and more head to the festival website, visitwagga.com/ fow. Also follow along on Visit Wagga Wagga’s Facebook and Instagram.
Festival of W is proudly presented and delivered by Wagga Wagga City Council with sponsorship from creative producers Mandylights for the contributions to Lightvision, and the NSW Government for funding the special pop-up street activations this weekend.
Sweet boy Zachary
Zachary is a 4-year-old male mixed breed who is looking for his forever home. He is very loving and affectionate and likes a calm and gentle environment. He would benefit from extra love and care to allow his true personality to shine through.
The adoption cost for Zachary (ImpD24/0261) is $344 and includes: microchipping, lifetime registration, vaccination, desexing, flea and worming treatment, heartworm test and ID tag.
Wagga Wagga’s Festival of W gives you more to explore this weekend.
From Friday 12 July to Sunday 14 July extra light play elements, live music and an interactive silent disco are added to the festival lineup.
“We’re encouraging all festival-goers, even if you have visited the festival during the first week, to rug up and come along this weekend as there’s new free experiences to be enjoyed,” Council’s
All of this is in addition to Lightvision –the free major light and sound show in and around the Wollundry Lagoon – the Skate Wagga Wagga ice rink and House of FoW with warming festival food and beverages and fire buckets to enjoy.
A temporary road closure to create a pedestrian precinct on Baylis Street between the Victory Memorial Gardens and the Wollundry Lagoon precinct will be in place from Friday 12 July 2024 to
13 – FRI 12 JUL, 10.30AM – 1PM Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens Zoo, Macleay
P. 1300 292 442
Pak printing with
Salmon
13 JUL, 11AM – 12PM Wagga Wagga Art
Morrow St. P. 6926 9660 Silent Dis’FoW’ x Lawrence Lollipop Barlow Live SAT 13 JUL, 3PM – 5PM The Curious Rabbit, 44 Johnston St. P. 6921 5391 Art Up Late SAT 13 JUL, 4PM – 8PM Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Morrow St. P. 6926 9660 Silent Dis’FoW’ x Unique State Art Space Wintery Monoprint Workshop SAT 13 JUL, 6PM – 8PM Unique State Art Space,
43 Tompson St. P. 0437 699 995 Wheelchair AFL WED 17 JUL, 6.30PM – 8PM Bolton Park Stadium, Morgan St. P. 0407 682 545 Wagga Wagga City Library – School Holiday Activities MON 8 JUL – FRI 19 JUL, VARIOUS TIMES Wagga Wagga City Library, 243 Baylis St. P. 6926 9700 NAIDOC Deadly
3x3 Gala Basketball NSW – NAIDOC Week MON 15 JUL, 9AM – 4.30PM Equex Multipurpose Stadium, Copland St. P. 0459 535 133
For event organising and promotion support, contact Council’s events team: events@wagga. nsw.gov.au or 1300 292 442. Mon – Fri. /waggaevents visitwagga.com
Events & Tourism