On 1 – 3 March, the Kutalayna Collective, a Connected Be­ginnings lutruwita/Tasmania program, hosted the national gathering, ChangeFest23. They welcomed over 500 attend­ees from across Australia to celebrate place-based change in the Brighton municipality. ChangeFest23 was a sold out event and included over sixty speakers, with interactive work­shops, field trips and cultural activities.

Raylene Foster, a proud palawa woman, director of Connected Beginnings lutruwita/Tasma­nia and chief operations officer with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, hoped each attendee walked away with a deeper understanding and experience of how to embed place-based change within the community and was thrilled to showcase the amazing community led initiatives within the Kutalay­na/Jordan River community to a national audience on the big stage. Raylene Foster stated, “The Kutalayna Collective was proud to host ChangeFest23, a celebration of place-based change in Australia. This gathering is an opportunity to showcase the positive impact of community-led initiatives, highlighting the importance of deepening our connection to place as we celebrate and showcase the fantastic work of communities driving change across the country.”

“The Kutalayna Collective was honoured to be part of Change­Fest, a growing movement for positive change, to share our knowledge and learnings while celebrating our community champions leading this vital work. We sincerely thank our local community and partner, Material Institute, for bringing this festival to life.”

The Kutalayna Collective with local partner Material Institute also hosted a River Party at the Bridgewater Park Foreshore. The event was free and wel­come for all of the Brighton Municipality to attend. The River Party was a great suc­cess with community coming along to enjoy First Nations Artists and performers, which featured the unique talents of Emily Wurramara, Marlon x Rulla, Warren Mason, Dewayne Everettsmith, and the pakana kanapilia dancers.

The vision of ChangeFest is ‘A festival of change, recognising that creativity, surprise and celebration are at the heart of changing our systems and our culture. Local communities lead this process with a strong emphasis on empowering First Nations people (ChangeFest 2023).’

The event celebrates place-based change and offers attendees the opportunity to be inspired by projects and people that puts community at the centre of decision making at all levels of government.

Barb Daly, local resident and community services student at Brighton Council shared some of her reflections, stating after the festival, she knew she wouldn’t be the only one wak­ing up with “Ya Pulingina” on the tip of her tongue, which is “Hello welcome” in the palawa kani language. As a first-time attendee to ChangeFest, Barb said she has never felt more proud and empowered to be a part of this amazing strong community that is Kutalayna/Jordan River. Barb learned a lot about Tasmanian Aboriginal culture, made many connec­tions, and loved having the opportunity to share her experi­ences as a community leader through the Inspiring Future Leaders program facilitated by Centacare Evolve Housing.

ChangeFest23 came to Kutalay­na/Jordan River at an exciting time as it builds on the growing momentum for all of the com­munity to get behind place-based community development initiatives.

To keep up to date with more free community events, go to Facebook – Kutalayna Col­lective to keep updated with information.

If you would like to learn more about ChangeFest, head to www.changefest.com.au.