Jem Cassar-Daley To Headline 2024 Quandamooka Music & Cultural Festival

The beloved Queensland event, the Quandamooka Music & Cultural Festival, returns to North Stradbroke (Minjerribah) on Friday, the 30th, and Saturday, the 31st of August.

This year’s program is led by Brisbane (Meanjin) Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung woman and indie-pop singer Jem Cassar-Daley on Friday, who will be accompanied by acclaimed artists Uncle Joe Geia and Quandamooka musician Sachem.

The annual winter festival kicks off with a Traditional Smoking Ceremony and Welcome To Country, which celebrates the whale (yalingila) migration season.

In addition to the traditional ceremonies, the Quandamooka Music & Cultural Festival will host a string of cultural activities, such as tours, corroborees (Kunjiel), music performances, food, weaving, arts, crafts, panel discussions, drive-in movie experiences of First Nations’ films, and more. Additional announcements will be made before the festival.

While the music and cultural festival is free entry, registration is mandatory ahead of its two-day event at the QYAC campus on Minjerribah Gunaba, 100 East Coast Road—gates for the festival open at 4 pm on Friday, 30 August.

Punters can register for tickets next Tuesday, 9 July, to be in the running for prizes, including travel and accommodation. You can register for tickets via the Quandamooka Festival website.

In a statement, QYAC Chair Cameron Costello said of this year’s event,

Quandamooka Festival is a great opportunity to bring the whole community and visitors together to celebrate culture and the arts, and learn more about Quandamooka Country; the sands, seas, sacred lakes, creeks, catchments and creatures found across the Redlands/Moreton Bay islands from the Quandamooka Peoples perspective.

2024 is shaping up to be the year of Jem Cassar-Daley, with the singer winning the Pop Song of the Year and Song of the Year for King Of Disappointment at the Queensland Music Awards back in April. Those wins followed her New Talent of the Year win at the National Indigenous Music Awards in 2022.

This month, Jem Cassar-Daley will appear beside her father, Troy, on Sydney Opera House Presents: Generations And Dynasties as part of NITV and SBS On Demand’s NAIDOC Week celebrations.

You can find out more about SBS Network’s NAIDOC Week programming here.