The colour and culture of this year’s Barunga Festival will be captured and spread worldwide as part of a Tourism NT #NTAustralia Instameet.

The popular festival is a highlight on the Territory’s events calendar and is held in the remote community of Barunga, 80 kilometres from Katherine in the tropical Top End of the Northern Territory each year.

Using the social media platform Instagram, an Instameet involves prominent account holders – or Instagrammers – descending on a location, then promoting that location to their hundreds of thousands of fans and followers through photographs and hashtags.

Three local and national Instagrammers with a combined following of more than 60,000 followers will attend the Barunga Festival Instameet but Tourism NT wants all festival-goers to join in.

Local Instagram fans can get involved by using the hashtag #NTAustralia on any photos taken over the four day festival and posted on social networking sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Tourism NT CEO Tony Mayell said the inaugural Barunga Festival Instameet would raise the profile of the festival and the Katherine region to a worldwide audience.

“Using the global social phenomenon Instagram is just one of many innovative tools we are using to market the Territory as a holiday destination,” said Mr Mayell.

“It’s a first for the Barunga Festival that will reflect the excitement of holidaying in the NT and range of unique experiences on offer, particularly to younger people.”

The timing of the Instameet coincides with Tourism NT’s current ‘Experience NT Events’ national advertising campaign, which showcases sport, music, culture and quirky events available throughout the Territory to act as a trigger for Aussies to book a holiday to the NT in 2016.

The Barunga Festival is one of the events featured in the new ‘cultural’ digital video of the campaign which kicked off in April this year.

The Barunga Festival runs from Friday 10 June to Monday 12 June and features a program of events including art, music, culture, sport and Indigenous workshops including basket weaving, spear throwing lessons and damper making to name a few.

For the full program, and more information go to: http://barungafestival.com.au/

Share you NT adventures with the world by following @AusOutbackNT on Facebook and Instagram.

ENDS

Media Contact: Corporate Media and Communications Manager +61 401 115 634