Tiwi Islands Festival and footy grand final running together for first time ever in 2025

An upcoming Top End festival has the potential to become a ‘nationally significant event’, due to the combination of two blockbuster events and a $150k funding injection.

The Ranku Eagles triumphed over the Muluwurri Magpies in the 2024 Tiwi Islands Football League grand final. Picture: Celina Whan / AFLNT Media

The combination of two blockbuster events – and the injection of $150,000 in Federal government funding – is helping create a “nationally significant event” in the Top End.

This year, the Tiwi Cultural Festival is set to run on the same weekend as the Tiwi Islands Football League Grand Final, in what is shaping up to be huge weekend for Bathurst Island.

Now in its second year, the cultural festival is looking to continue to grow, with $150k in Federal funding giving it the potential to become a “nationally significant event,” according to Tiwi Land Council chair Leslie Tungatalum.

Tiwi Islands Regional Council deputy mayor Leslie Tungatalum has been named the candidate for the Arafura by-election. Picture: Supplied

“With support from the National Indigenous Australians Agency, we’re now able to properly plan and grow the Tiwi Cultural Festival alongside the Tiwi Football Grand Final,” he said.

“This combined weekend has the potential to become a nationally significant event – one that strengthens cultural pride, ensures our traditions are passed down and creates real economic opportunities for Tiwi-owned businesses.”

The festival is due to be held on July 19 at Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island, and will showcase traditional dance, cultural demonstrations, art, music, and workshops.

Federal Indigenous Australians minister Malarndirri McCarthy said celebrations such as the Tiwi Islands Festival “bring people together to strengthen community connections and culture.”

The festival also “creates an opportunity for us to share our culture with the rest of the country,” Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour said.