Photos of The Croc Festival, Australia

The Croc Festival was a three-day 100% drug, alcohol and tobacco free event, held annually since 1998 in a number of locations in remote and rural areas of Australia before being cancelled due to lack of funds. It was produced by Indigenous Festivals of Australia and aimed to engage Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in building relationships while celebrating their traditional culture.

During the days, primary and high school students participated in various activities related to arts, education, health, careers and sports while the evenings were filled with song and dance performances by the students of the various participating schools. There was Aboriginal Dancing, Torres Strait Islander dancing and contemporary dancing as well.

The videos on these pages are of the performances that were held at the “100% in Control Croc Festival”; in Thursday Island, from 25 to 26 July 2001. They are an interesting mix of pure traditional dancing, modern interpretations of traditional dance and contemporary disco dancing, sometimes in the same performance. This is typical of the world Australia's indigenous people live in today: taking what is best from indigenous and mainstream culture and effortlessly moving between them.

The schools involved in this festival were all from northern Queensland> and the Torres Strait Islands. The performances, held on a stage in the open air, were totally non-competitive: everyone was a winner.