PubSing is proud to once again present Voices for Reconciliation at the Taproom in Castlemaine this Friday, as part of the Reconciliation Australia annual national choirs project.
This will be their fourth year participating in this beautiful collective big sing, which occurs in hundreds of communities across the country.
Each year, Reconciliation Australia chooses a song that ties in with the theme for Reconciliation Week. They provide a special arrangement of the song, but many groups also choose just to sing the original well-known version.
For PubSing, they create their own original three-part arrangement of the song, as they do for each of their gigs.The Reconciliation Choirs concept originated in 2023 and was then called ‘Voices for Generations’. That first year, they chose to do the beautiful Archie Roach classic ‘We won’t cry’ as their main song, and did the Reconciliation Australian nominated song ‘From little things big things grow’ as a bonus, complete with a wonderful guest harmonica player! Interestingly, they named that gig ‘Voices for Reconciliation’ before the Reconciliation Australia choirs project adopted this name in 2024 (Pubsing like to think they got the idea from them!)
In 2024, Pubsing learned Black Fella/White Fella by the Wurumpi Band, and in 2025, they learned Solid Rock by Goanna, with PubSing having the honour of teaching a special chorus in Pitjantjatjara, which is the language of the Agananu peoples of the Western Desert, where Uluru is located.
The song this year is Midnight Oil’s huge land rights anthem Beds are Burning. This legendary song was actually the song for Castlemaine’s third only PubSing back in early 2019, and the organisers can say with certainty it’s an absolute banger for a big group sing. One of the fun parts of doing this song is the iconic horn section riff, which they recreate vocally en masse!
The theme for Reconciliation Week this year is All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.
Castlemaine PubSing Voices for Reconciliation events are the same format as all of their gigs, but with a specific intention to honour the oldest living culture on earth, support truth-telling about the history of this country, and take meaningful action as allies alongside First Nations people.
As part of their commitment to meaningful reconciliation, PubSing is proud to be able to donate to Nalderun and the Archie Roach Foundation each year, along with their amazing venue partner, the Taproom, who generously matches their donation.
PubSing Voice for Reconciliation – ‘Beds are Burning’ will be held on Friday June 5 from 7.30 to 10.00pm at the Taproom at Shedshaker Brewing – Walker St, Castlemaine
Tickets can be purchased at: www.trybooking.com/DLTNI
*advanced bookings are encouraged as our events regularly sell out
First Nations folk are warmly encouraged to attend – free entry.