Yarn at the Farm will return to Bella Vista Farm on 9 July 2026 with First Nations culture, music, workshops, food and family activities.
Morning arrives differently at Bella Vista Farm.
The open lawns catch winter light slowly. Historic buildings sit quietly against the movement of nearby roads, creating one of those unusual Sydney places where time seems to expand rather than hurry forward. During most weeks, visitors arrive for walks, community gatherings or a brief pause between appointments. But in July, during NAIDOC Week, the atmosphere will shift.
Families, neighbours and visitors from across Sydney will gather beneath open skies for Yarn at the Farm, returning for its third year as a day shaped by storytelling, cultural exchange and shared experience.
Running from 10am to 2pm on Thursday 9 July 2026, Yarn at the Farm will transform Bella Vista Farm into a place of conversation and participation – not as performance alone, but as an invitation to spend time with First Nations culture through music, movement, food and community.
Delivered by The Hills Shire Council in partnership with local First Nations enterprise Muru Mittigar, the event will sit within the broader spirit of NAIDOC Week while remaining distinctly local in tone.
Yarn At The Farm Begins With Gathering And Welcome
Before workshops begin and children scatter across activity spaces, the day will open in a way that establishes its rhythm.
A Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony led by Uncle Colin Locke will mark the beginning of the event, creating space for acknowledgement and connection before the program unfolds.
Moments like these often shape the feeling of a day more than schedules do. People arrive carrying coffees and folding chairs. Conversations quiet. Attention gathers.
From there, Yarn at the Farm will continue through live performances and cultural experiences designed to invite participation rather than observation.
Singer-songwriter Kyla-Belle, recognised through triple j’s Unearthed High Indigenous Initiative, will bring contemporary storytelling into the program, while performances from Jannawi Dance Clan, Khuna Dance Group and Cheeky Little Emus will move between dance, music and interactive experiences for younger audiences.
Rather than presenting culture at a distance, the event will encourage visitors to step closer.
Creative Encounters Define Yarn At The Farm
Throughout the day, activity spaces across Bella Vista Farm will create opportunities for hands-on engagement.
Traditional arts and crafts will sit alongside workshops designed to introduce visitors to cultural practices through making and participation.
Boomerang painting and ochre activities will invite slower attention. Didgeridoo performances will add another layer to the landscape, carrying sound across open spaces in a way that feels both immediate and reflective.
Elsewhere, Deadly Ed, an Aboriginal-owned education organisation, will host traditional Indigenous games – bringing movement, laughter and a sense of shared play into the day.
Market stalls from Indigenous artists, designers and small businesses will create another form of conversation.
Visitors will move between artwork, jewellery, clothing and homewares, meeting makers and hearing stories embedded in objects. Events like Yarn at the Farm often reveal that culture is experienced not through a single stage or headline moment, but through many smaller encounters collected across the day.
Children paint. Parents listen. Conversations begin unexpectedly.
Food, Conversation And The Everyday Experience Of Culture
Community events are often remembered through food as much as performance.
At Yarn at the Farm, visitors will find a range of food options across the site, creating places to pause between activities.
The Wilka Thalta Food Truck will serve First Nations-inspired cuisine, bringing native Australian ingredients into street food-style dishes shaped by contemporary flavours.
Nearby, familiar local favourites will provide quieter comforts: a sausage sizzle from The Friends of Bella Vista Farm, soft serve ice cream, sundaes, slushies and coffee with bakery items.
These details matter.
People gather around tables. Children compare what they made during workshops. Someone returns for another coffee before the final performance.
Culture rarely exists separately from everyday life. It appears in conversation, hospitality and the act of spending time together.
Yarn At The Farm Continues To Grow As A Local Tradition
As the event enters its third year, Yarn at the Farm will continue building its place within Sydney’s western communities.
NAIDOC Week offers moments of recognition and celebration across the country, but local events create something more immediate. They allow communities to gather in familiar places and experience culture through participation rather than distance.
Bella Vista Farm, with its broad open spaces and layered history, feels particularly suited to that purpose.
By early afternoon, visitors will begin folding picnic rugs and gathering bags. Children will carry painted keepsakes. Conversations will continue while people walk back towards transport connections and nearby streets.
The stages will quiet.
But the feeling of the day – stories heard, songs remembered, moments shared – will travel home with the people who attended.
And for a few hours in winter, Bella Vista Farm will have become not only a destination, but a place of listening.
Event Details
Event: Yarn at the Farm – NAIDOC Week 2026
Date: Thursday 9 July 2026
Time: 10:00am–2:00pm
Location: Bella Vista Farm, Elizabeth Macarthur Drive, Bella Vista NSW
Program Highlights:
- Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony with Uncle Colin Locke
- Live performances and music
- Cultural workshops and traditional arts and crafts
- Indigenous market stalls
- Traditional Indigenous games with Deadly Ed
- Boomerang and ochre painting
- First Nations-inspired cuisine and food vendors
Travel: Limited onsite parking available. Metro travel is encouraged.
Official Website: https://www.thehills.nsw.gov.au/