For artist Angelina Boona from Kalumburu, the northernmost settlement in Western Australia, it was a two-day drive to the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.
But the long trip has been worth it - Boona has already sold some artworks and is enjoying being in the city.
"We love coming to Darwin and seeing all the people," she told AAP.
"It's like we are all a big family - we come together through our artworks."
The 2024 event features art from more than 70 Indigenous-owned art centres including the first art organisation from NSW to participate - Malang Indigenous Corporation from the Hunter Valley.
Artist and Malang chief executive Saretta Fielding said many artists fell through the cracks when it came to marketing their work.
"A lot of Aboriginal artists don't have the opportunity or knowledge," she said.
"There's a digital divide for them to take their art from the canvas and out of their home."
By Friday, art buyers were queuing around the exterior of the Darwin Convention Centre with 4000 people expected, and up to 7000 on Saturday.
While it's too early for sales figures, costs have skyrocketed, with some art centres spending more than $40,000 on travel, according to the fair's executive director Claire Summers.
Cost-of-living increases have hit remote art centres hard, she said, with petrol about $3 a litre in remote areas and the collapse of Rex Airlines also having an impact.
"The cost of living is horrendous, and the people who are struggling the most are not the retirees who are shopping like mad - it's art centres," Summers said.
"They're spending a crippling amount of money to be here."
It's hoped that investment will translate into not only sales but global interest.
Visitors to the fair include international curators from the Musee du quai Branly in Paris and commercial galleries such as London's Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery.
Summers has recently visited international exhibitions where works sell for more than $1 million and believes Aboriginal art remains undervalued in global terms.
"Our artists here are unbelievably world class and belong on a world stage," she told AAP.
"You're not just buying an artwork, you're actually buying someone's heritage and story and spirituality.
"It's an amazing gift that these guys are giving us."
As for Australian art buyers, Amanda Davis from Melbourne left the fair on Friday with three paintings - from Tjarlirli and Kaltukatjara Art and Iwantja Arts.
One was so large it might not fit into her suitcase, but despite this, she was keen to brave the crowds on Saturday to look at some three-dimensional pieces.
"I'll count my money and see if I can come back and get a weaving," she said.
Another artist who had travelled a great distance to Darwin was Racy Pitt from Erub Arts on Darnley Island, in the Torres Strait.
She showed off a range of sculptures made from fishing nets - unfortunately, the arts centre has more than enough material to work with.
"All the nets are destroying things when they are floating around - they destroy our reef, the marine life on the reef," she said.
"We try to do something nice and make artwork out of it."
Sculptures of turtles and stingrays from the art centre are in demand, with a recent commission - one of the largest hand-crafted public artworks in Australia - installed at Sydney’s Exchange Square at Barangaroo South.
Angelina Boona would like to see more artists from Western Australia at the Darwin event.
"I want to encourage young people to participate, concentrate on being artists and sharing their country," she said.
Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair continues until Sunday.
