Tarerer flies the flag for culture and fun

KILLARNEY will again be alive with music, dance and culture as the annual Tarerer Festival kicks off today.A celebration of culture, Tarerer is one of Australia's biggest indigenous festivals and will feature Aboriginal artists from across the country.Musical act No Fixed Address will headline the festival which will be the group's first Victorian performance since re-forming.Other international and Australian musical acts include Dan Sultan & Band, John Spillane, Brett Clarke & Band, Sol Nation, Djiva, Rory Ellis, Lee Morgan and Shane Howard. Festival director Lyn Eales said the lead-up to the festival had offered new artists mentoring opportunities which would be on display today and tomorrow.``I am absolutely thrilled with the effort over the last couple of weeks,'' she said.``A lot of mentoring of visual and performing artists has had great outcomes, with work to be shown in a modern Aboriginal Australian context.''More than 80 dancers from the Sudanese, Maori and Irish communities will also be sharing their stories through dance.Ms Eales said this year's festivities would be ``totally green'' with everything at the festival being recycled.``All the food stalls have been excellent, there is no polystyrene on site.'' ``One stall holder has even got cups made of corn. Everyone has worked really hard to make this happen,'' Ms Eales said.As part of the environmental aspect to the festival, hooded plover counts will be held on Killarney beach.The Tarerer Festival will be held at Killarney Recreation Reserve today and tomorrow.