Our Birrarung: Past, Present, Future. | An afternoon of reflection and celebration with Sammy J on World Rivers Day.

Celebrate the Birrarung and World Rivers Day with Sammy J!

On World Rivers Day and the final day of the 2024 Birrarung Riverfest, join the Yarra Riverkeeper Association and our MC Sammy J with a community of river supporters to celebrate our great Yarra, Birrarung River. Get connected to our river with Traditional Owners the Djirri Djirri Dancers, through a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony.

Enjoy river songs from The Riverfest Concert Choir, hear speakers share their stories of the past, present and future visions for the river and join us for cuppa and afternoon tea to connect with fellow river-lovers.

Turn up for some of the program or all of it. Attendance is FREE but please book to assist with catering. And while you’re there, please make a donation to support our Festival Presenter, Yarra Riverkeeper Association in their vital work towards a healthy, protected, loved Birrarung.

The Event Program

11am to 12.30pm | Birrarung 2100 Exhibition and floor talk: Find your Place on the Birrarung | The Edge Theatre

Where is your home along the Birrarung? 
This exhibition features expansive maps, inviting you to experience what Uncle Bill Nicholson calls the ‘Bunjil’s eye view’ of the Birrarung to understand your place and relationship to the river. Join the open floor discussions with Alex Felson and Kirstine Wallis highlighting the role of incremental change and indigenous wisdom in fostering Australia's climate resilience. Artist Carolyn Cardinet will also be there to talk to you about River Jellyfish, her artworks made of bicycle inner tubes found around the Birrarung.

12.30pm to 1.30pm | Meet the River in front of The Edge Theatre

How do you connect to the river? 
Meet and greet the river and be serenaded by the Melbourne Climate Choir. Pay your respects to the Traditional Owners with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony. Then follow the pied pipers Mal Webb and Kylie Morrigan on trumpet and trombone with Sammy J to The Edge.

1.30pm to 2.15pm | Our Birrarung & The Past | The Edge Theatre

How do we better understand the past to ensure a healthy future for our Birrarung?
Discover the deep connection of Traditional Owners to the Birrarung with Wurundjeri woman, Dr Mandy Nicholson and reflect on the devastation caused by colonisation with historian Dr Judy Buckrich. Enjoy river songs from the Riverfest Concert Choir, brought together by Laura Brearley with leaders from Community Music network, Climate Choir Melbourne and Brunswick Rogues. Guest musicians are Mal Webb, Kylie Morrigan and Wamba Wamba didgeridoo player Uncle Ron Murray. 

2.30pm to 3.15pm | Our Birrarung & The Present | The Edge Theatre

What can we do today for a healthy, protected and loved Birrarung? 
How do we use our skills, talents and passions for our Birrarung, whether that’s through clean-ups, tree planting or reporting pollution? Learn what Sam Russell, the tree-planting urban guerrilla and Meg Elkins, Yarra Yabbies river-swimmer are up to. Hear original songs, ‘The River Remembers’ by Craig Barrie and Nicki Johnson and ‘Hey Birrarung!’ by Jeannie Marsh along with children’s poetic text written during the ‘Living World’, CMVic’s Climate Action project with City of Yarra.

3.30pm to 4.15pm | Our Birrarung & The Future with Official Closing | The Edge Theatre

How do we reimagine a better future for our Birrarung?
Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo; what’s good for the Yarra is good for all! The Yarra Strategic Plan reflects the community’s 50 year vision for the river. Hear from Ewan McEoin, curator of Reimagining Birrarung and Alex Felson, Design with Country Resilience Studio on how we can co-create the future with Traditional Owners. See the highlights of Riverfest on the big screen with closing remarks from Janet Bolitho, President of the Yarra Riverkeeper Association before one final song with the choir.

Guaranteed you will leave this event feeling connected to the river and inspired to take action for a healthy, protected, loved Birrarung. This is an event you won't want to miss. With big thanks to the generous partnership with MAPCO and Fed Square.


Accessibility: There is a lift, wheelchair and pram access at The Edge.

About Riverfest

Celebrate our river at one of 30+ events being hosted over three weeks from 1- 22 September. Whether you enjoy riverside walks, cleanups or paddling adventures, there's something for everyone at Riverfest. Riverfest is presented by the Yarra Riverkeeper Association. Check out the full Riverfest program here.

Acknowledgement of Country

The Yarra Riverkeeper Association acknowledges that the lands and waterways of the Yarra, Birrarung catchment, are the unceded territories of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Bunurong peoples. We pay respect to Traditional Owners, who have, and continue, to care for Country. We acknowledge that the river now called Yarra has always been known as the Birrarung by its custodians.

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