How GROUNDED YP Art Festival turned winter into a celebration of culture, connection and community collaboration.

Across Guuranda, Yorke Peninsula, winter is usually the quieter season. Visitor numbers slow, townships settle into a gentler rhythm, and local activity naturally eases after the summer rush.

But for 10 days in August 2025, something different happened.

Town halls, cafes, schools, coastlines and community spaces came alive with creativity as the GROUNDED YP Art Festival brought artists, residents, businesses, Traditional Owners and visitors together across 12 townships.

Led by Yorke Peninsula Council’s Economic Development and Business Sustainability Team, in partnership with a passionate volunteer Arts and Cultural Working Group, the festival has now been recognised with the Excellence in Community Partnerships and Collaboration Award at the LG Professionals SA 25th Annual Leadership Excellence Awards.

What began as a plan to bring back local art exhibitions has become something much bigger: a place-based festival that celebrates regional identity, strengthens community connection and shows what is possible when a small council backs local creativity.

From exhibition to region-wide festival

Yorke Peninsula Council had supported art exhibitions for many years, but like many community events, they were interrupted by COVID.

When council began looking at how to reintroduce them, an informal working group of community artists was formed, led by the Arts and Culture Facilitator. The response was immediate and energetic.

The working group did not just want to bring back what had existed before. They saw an opportunity to create something broader, more connected and more reflective of the peninsula as a whole.

By 2025, the second biennial GROUNDED YP Art Festival had grown to include more than 40 events across the region, offering exhibitions, workshops, performances, storytelling and cultural experiences during one of the quietest times of the year.

A festival shaped by community

At the heart of GROUNDED YP was a clear community need.

Yorke Peninsula has a strong creative community, but no dedicated and funded regional arts organisation. At the same time, council wanted to activate towns, attract visitors and support local economic activity during winter, without having a dedicated events team.

The solution was collaboration.

The Arts and Cultural Working Group created a structured platform for local artists to connect, contribute and lead. Council worked closely with Progress Associations to ensure events reflected the needs, character and demographics of each township.

This meant the festival did not feel like something placed onto the community. It felt like something grown from within it.

Culture, creativity and connection

One of the festival’s most powerful moments was its finale, Lanterns and Fire: The Story of Widhadha.

Held on the Marion Bay coastline, the event brought together Nharangga representatives, artists, cultural educators, schools and community members to tell the Dreaming story of Widhadha, the great white shark and totem animal of the Dhilba clan on southern Guuranda.

Over six months, lanterns were co-created with community members, including students from all 10 local schools. The result was a spectacular celebration of Nharangga culture, with fire sculptures and lanterns lighting the night sky in front of 500 spectators.

For many, it was more than an event. It was a moment of shared learning, respect and pride.

As one survey respondent reflected, “It brought the Peninsula alive and exposed us to Nharangga Culture in a way that would not have been otherwise possible.”

Real outcomes for artists, towns and businesses

The impact of GROUNDED YP was both cultural and economic.

The 2025 festival welcomed 5,115 attendees, with 35 per cent travelling from outside the council area. It generated $88,910 for local artists and $43,272 for visiting artists, while delivering a balanced budget for council.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with post-event surveys recording 100 per cent positive responses. One comment captured the spirit of the project as “an incredible sense of collaboration between artists, facilitators, towns and event management”.

For an emerging regional festival, these outcomes show how arts and culture can support visitation, strengthen local identity and create new opportunities for creative communities.

The people behind the festival

GROUNDED YP was made possible by many hands.

Council recognises Arts and Culture Facilitator, Molly Flanagan-Sjoberg, working group members Sonya Rankine, Jasmine Swales, Robyn Clasohm and Meg Honner, Councillors Tania Stock and Trevor Clerke, the Nharangga community, Progress Associations, schools, businesses and community members who helped bring the festival to life.

Nick Perry, Manager Economic Development and Business Sustainability, championed the peninsula-wide collaboration, with strong support from Council’s Corporate Management Team and Elected Members.

What comes next

Planning is already underway for GROUNDED YP Art Festival 2027, with new and returning collaborators recently coming together for a “Groundwork for GROUNDED” workshop.

For Yorke Peninsula Council, the award is recognition of the volunteers, staff, artists and community members who transformed a simple idea into a regional celebration.

And for the sector, GROUNDED YP is a reminder that when councils create the conditions for community creativity to flourish, the results can light up far more than one festival weekend.

Thank you to our partner Department of Human Services for sponsoring the Excellence in Community Partnerships and Collaboration Award.

GIF: Features a variety of images from the GROUNDED YP Art Festival, and those representing the project at the 2026 LG Professionals SA Leadership Excellence Awards Gala Dinner.