30 years and counting

30 years ago, the Greek community of Sydney gathered together at Addison Road Community Centre in Marrickville for a weekend paniyiri to celebrate and showcase their Greek heritage through culture and the arts. Around 3,000 people attended - the year was 1980. Fast forward to 2012, and what started as a small paniyiri has turned into one of the largest Greek festivals in Australia.

Held at Darling Harbour, the Greek Festival of Sydney is now a year long calendar of events that culminates on the weekend of Greekfest, that sees close to 200,000 people flow in and out of Darling Harbour for their chance to explore and immerse themselves in all things Greek. Harry Danalis, President of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW, has been there since the beginning.

"Watching it grow and go from a small paniyiri to what it is today is definitely a highlight for me," he says of the evolution of the 30th Greek Festival of Sydney. In his time, he told Neos Kosmos he has so many highlights through the festival's 30 years some of which include overseas artists such as Giorgios Dalaras, Haris Alexiou and Pashalis Terzis.

"We've had the National Theatre of Greece present Medea and another time Antigone, we've had endless amounts of dancing groups, there are so many highlights for me," says the president. Apart from this weekend's Greekfest, the 30th Greek Festival of Sydney also includes the Greek Film Festival, lectures, art exhibitions, dance and music celebrations. A highlight for this year was Thursday's performance by Greek musical icon Pantelis Thalassinos as well as the launch of Dr Vrasidas Karalis' book A History of Greek Cinema, to be launched by Australian film buff David Stratton.

Throughout the years, the festival has changed locations from the Marrickville Community Centre to a street party in Rockdale and even with the location in Darling Harbour - albeit it being central and having the amenities the festival requires - Danalis admits that even that location is getting too small. The way the festival has been funded has changed throughout the years as well.

The festival is primarily funded by sponsorships and grants, and fundraising activities held by the community. The festival used to receive $50,000 from the Community Relations Commission of the State Government, but since the change of government last year, they are yet to be advised whether or not they will receive the funding. But with the change in location, and funding, one thing remains certain for the Greek community of New South Wales, the Greek Festival of Sydney will always serve it's core function: "to showcase Greek culture and present these events as it's very important to retaining our sense of identity".