A first ever NAIDOC rodeo and music festival is coming to Mount Isa

Jarred Cross Published June 2, 2026 at 8.00am (AWST)

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Kalkadoon Prescribed Body Corporate's Tara Bell is promising "community, culture and celebration coming together on country in a way Mount Isa has never seen before" at next month's inaugural NAIDOC 4B Rodeo & Music Festival. (Image: supplied)

There's a new addition to NAIDOC Week celebrations in Mount Isa in 2026, including bulls, bareback broncos and live music.

Celebrating this year's theme, 50 Years of Deadly, Kalkadoon PBC (Prescribed Body Corporate) are set to host the inaugural NAIDOC 4B Rodeo & Music Festival at Buchanan Park in Mt Isa on Saturday, July 11.

From Rodeo 101 - Back to Basics fundamentals and pathways information sessions to $5,000 in prize money on the table across each open-age category and festivities to follow, Kalkadoon PBC's Tara Bell is promising "community, culture and celebration coming together on country in a way Mount Isa has never seen before".

The north-west Queensland city is no stranger to First Nations horse and bull riding.

Since 2022, the Indigenous Rodeo Championships have played part of the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo - itself dating back to the 1950s.

During NAIDOC Week, the new rodeo and music festival is honouring five decades of strength, survival and pride.

It's also a celebration of artists, communities and Elders, putting music, dance, culture and storytelling front and centre.

"Set beneath Mount Isa's vast open skies, the festival will feature a limited rodeo program, a live music lineup in the forecourt, cultural performances, family activities, food and market stalls, and a showcase of First Nations excellence," Ms Bell said.

"This is more than just a rodeo or music festival, this is community, culture and celebration coming together on Country in a way Mount Isa has never seen before."

From mid-afternoon, junior age brackets compete in barrel race and steer ride, before bull ride, saddle and bareback bronc, and barrel races in second and opens divisions.

Mount Isa Indigenous Champion bullrider Donnie Rutherfurd. (Image: supplied)

The inaugural NAIDOC 4B Rodeo and Music Festival comes to Mt Isa on July 11. (Image: supplied)

Lil Mase is set to perform. (Image: supplied)

Tess Fapani is set to perform at the Rodeo and Music Festival. (Image: supplied)

Music acts Tess Fapani, Coloured Stone, Normey Jay and Lil Mase perform from after 6pm, with Big Eye Theatre Dancers and Mornington Island Dancers also taking the stage, ahead of a late-night afterparty at the nearby pub.

"To host the first-ever NAIDOC rodeo in Mount Isa during the 50th anniversary of NAIDOC Week is something incredibly special," Ms Bell said..

"This event celebrates where we've come from, who we are, and where the next generation is heading."