We are often asked the question "isn't it taboo for women to play the Didgeridoo?"

There is a myth that women should not play the Didge. While it is true that women do not play in public ceremony, there appears to be few restrictions on women playing in an informal capacity. It is not taboo for Aboriginal women to play the didge in most parts of Australia, and there are occasions where women role play and take hold of the instrument in comical mimicry of men. In rare cases, some Aboriginal women in 'Top End' communities have become proficient at playing the didjeridu, though they never perform in ceremonial contexts. For many years now, non indigenous women from around the world have been exploring the music of the Didge. and generally, Aboriginal men in 'Top End' communities do not have a problem with non-Indigenous women playing. They reason that the cultural rules and conditions that govern behaviour in Indigenous society do not apply to non-Indigenous women, which are bound by their own set of Western laws and moral codes.

Sources - ididj.com.au and aboriginalart.com.au

Aunty Carmel Barry, Dja Dja Warrung Elder, has given her in principal support to Lynn McShanag and the Ancient Voice choir to be created and performed on her traditional land and will perform a welcome to country to open the Saturday night concert.

Didgfest respects the history and cultural tradition behind the didgeridoo.  In a contemporary context we do not play or teach traditional Aboriginal music and do not copy Aboriginal art. We acknowledge the Australian Aboriginal people as the traditional owners of the didgeridoo.