What began as a backyard barbecue and a "jam session" now attracts thousands of people to one of Australia's most remote regions each year.

It has been 25 years since the annual Garma Festival's humble beginnings, and the Yothu Yindi Foundation, which organises the event in northeast Arnhem Land, is paying homage to those who started it.

"This year is a real acknowledgement and a proper nod to the Yunupingu brothers who had some pretty large ideas for the Garma Festival," Youthu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden told AAP.

"Many of us had some catching up to do when we realised what they had created because now it's a nationally iconic event attracting 3500 people each year to a very remote location."

The location is the culturally significant ceremonial grounds of Gulkula, where each year art, song, bunggul (dance) and storytelling are showcased.

Garma has become an important policy forum, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indigenous Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy and other politicians slated to speak at the four-day festival.

These talks co-exist with discussions of culture, education and other significant issues for First Nations people.

Ms Bowden said the 2025 Garma theme "rom ga waŋa wataŋu", or "the law of the land, standing firm", reflected the Yolŋu fight for empowerment and land rights.

The most recent example of this fight was in March, when the High Court upheld a Federal Court decision that found the Gumatj clan's Country in northeast Arnhem Land was not acquired "on just terms" before being leased to the Swiss-Australian mining consortium Nabalco in 1968.

The late Gumatj leader Dr Yunupingu brought the case in 2019, alongside an application for native title on behalf of his clan.

"A lot of cultural elements and deeply ingrained beliefs of culture still exist here," Ms Bowden said.

"You hear it in the language, you hear it in the songs, you hear it in the dance and the law of the land."

Garma Festival runs until Monday.

Keira Jenkins - AAP