Nongkrong Festival 2025
A Saucy Celebration of Culture, Connection, and Community
Words by Ruby Foggo (she/her)
Photos by Will Hamilton | Emil Raji | Aideen Gallagher
Nongkrong Festival, held from February 9th-23rd this year, is a rich celebration of culture, diaspora and joy. Nongkrong, which translates directly to ‘hanging out,’ celebrates Indonesian-Australian collective identity and connects the Naarm diaspora, with this year’s theme being ‘Roots & Routes.’
Beginning in 2023 as the initiative of a few friends, it has now grown to a two-week-long festival, drawing crowds that wrap around corners and rave in moshes. With nine diverse events - from celebrating the ancient ties between Indonesia and north-east Arnhem Land to getting down in the club - Nongkrong is a feast for the community and the senses.
Marga Opening Ceremony
Nongkrong 2025 kicked off with its Opening Ceremony, ‘Marga’, recognising the pre-colonial relationship between Australia and Indonesia. Marga was held at the Fairfield Amphitheatre with a glorious display of red and yellow woven rugs at the base of its stone steps, and DJ decks with their back to the flowing Yarra. Atop the amphitheatre was a bar serving teh kotak and beers, and a curling line for Indonesian-Australian BBQ. Amidst a growing audience, kids took centre stage performing cartwheels, and friendly faces in crew shirts wandered through the crowd with giant fruit platters.
The peak of the evening was a fireside yarn between Makassan dancer Abdi Karya and Yolŋu presenter Leila Gurruwiwi, who spoke on the enduring connection between Indonesia and Australia.
Marcia Langton, a revered First Nations Scholar, then spoke of the cultural impact of this relationship on both Countries. We learned that across oceans, the Makassans and the First Nations peoples of north-east Arnhem Land formed a flourishing relationship through trade and skill-sharing. For centuries, possibly even millennia, skilled Makassan sailors traveled annually to meet their neighbours. Upon arrival, they would wait to be welcomed ashore before learning from First Nations people how to dry and smoke sea cucumbers, a prized delicacy for trade. In return, they offered goods such as knives and tobacco. The Makassans also introduced tamarind to the area, which explains its strong presence in the Northern Territory today.
Photo: Emil Raji
Sarung Stories
Next was Sarong Stories, an interactive dance performance celebrating the humble sarung/sarong, rich with associations of home, childhood and place. Used as a tool to collect sea cucumber from the waters of far north Arnhem Land, the sarong’s historical timeline touches upon pre-colonial Australia.
For artist Abdi Karya, the sarong has become embedded in familial memory. Through story, he unpacked its enduring significance as a symbol of class, gender, religion and race. Worn outside, to work, in the mosque, while bathing, sleeping, during marriage, to carry a baby and to dress a coffin, this ubiquitous cloth represents much more than clothing. Abdi encouraged the audience to share their stories of sarong, moving our bodies and twisting our fabrics to explore the fabric’s physical and emotional associations.
Festival Executive Director Moira described hearing Leila and Abdi’s stories as a deeply unifying experience:
“... collectively learning something new about our ancestry was really special. I think it created a new meaning around what it meant to belong to a place, [and] strengthened and nurtured the idea of how we are connected as peoples.”
Soda Gembira
Nonkgrong's sheer diversity of events ensured it covered many facets of Indonesian-Australian collective identity, and touched as many tastes as it could.
Soda Gembira pumped in a makeshift club in the heart of the CBD, heaving with camp energy. With Indonesian-Australian DJS such as Cristal No.5 and Nasicampur, plus some cheeky dance performances, it was believed to be the first of its kind for the diaspora.
Inside, it was hot, with people dressed to the nines and edging towards the decks in a swarm. DJS blew kisses to a crowd with fans in hand, gum between bright white teeth, and flashing selfies. After some seriously saucy dance performances, the crowd grew increasingly expressive. A crew member took to the podium for an impromptu performance, receiving roars from the audience.
According to Moira, the festival's Executive Director, this subculture is still emerging:
“The [diaspora club scene] doesn’t really exist (yet). The Indonesian diaspora is characterised by migration patterns and policies, meaning the population is scattered throughout Australia with limited networks that connect us. Genres like indobounce, koplo, and dangdut aren’t well-known or established.
I think the dance scene in Naarm can also be intimidating for new migrants.
Amidst a raucous crowd and provocative performances, Soda Gembira remained an incredibly inviting event, carving out a modern and queer-celebrating space for the diaspora. With a heaving mosh that shook it till close, Soda Gembira lived up to the sweet and fruity drink it was inspired by. Hopefully, we will see more club events like this around Naarm in the future.
Photo: Will Hamilton
Gotong Royong
Gotong Royong brought a different kind of intimacy to the streets of Naarm. Next to the Upfield train line and wedged between some quintessential Brunswick warehouses, Gotong Royong explored community care through rice porridge. Rice porridge belongs to several diasporas, and is seen as an icon of warmth and sustenance across cultures.
Spilling from a narrow dining hall were plastic stools, just as you find on the side of the road across Southeast Asia, encouraging people to sit and chat. Four soup options could be chosen on a pay-what-you-can scale, ensuring accessibility while inviting generosity.
Amidst the friendly chaos of a thick long line was a large bubbling rice pot. A relaxed crew member stood stirring the pot and passing steaming bowls of soupy rice through the line, where workers on the other side assembled a colorful array of toppings. Shoulder to shoulder, towering over tantalizing bowls of porridge, you had the feeling that you weren’t just attending the event, you were part of it.
After waiting in the teeming crowd, the reward of a Goldilocks worthy, warm, salty and sweet rice porridge was worth it.
Nongkrong was a trailblazing event for the Indonesian-Australian diaspora and a resonant source of cultural enrichment. Amidst people learning from one another and sharing stories, it was simply fun. This festival holds deep cultural importance, creating a unique space for the Naarm Indonesian-Australian diaspora to express and self-discover, while other positionalities are encouraged to reflect and expand their knowledge.
Moira commented, “creating a space where you can deeply interact and participate in another culture’s practices and traditions is really important– especially where ‘Australian’ (white) culture is the invisible, normative centre of everyday life.”
At Nongkrong, people aren’t just invited to leave with new foods, friends, and experiences, but with a greater sense of who they are.
The festival's best attribute was its fluid energies of celebration and reflection - shifting from clubs to porridge, historical reckoning to dance genre discovery, and meditations to ambient jazz - constantly moving between moments of deep meaning to bursts of pure fun. Through it all, a steady undercurrent invited attendees to reflect sincerely, care collectively, and give love indiscriminately.
Everyone left Nongkrong with something to carry forward, whether it was a new connection, a song saved in Shazam, a broadened perspective, or simply the warmth of a shared experience. More than just a festival, Nongkrong is a living, evolving expression of Indonesian-Australian identity.
As the festival continues to grow, it will be exciting to see how it strengthens and shapes the community in the years to come.