It is the season of festivals, with events happening across the country.
For Victoria, this past weekend saw Lonsdale Street in Melbourne become all things Greek with the Antipodes Festival, and while most Greeks were in attendance for that, other places around the state had their own festivities.
One of those being the celebration of Geelong’s multicultural heritage at the Pako Festa.
Victoria’s largest free multicultural street festival presented the diversity of food, dance and music throughout the day on Pakington Street, where a street parade took off at 11am.
Established in 1983, the Pako Festa regularly attracts over 100,000 people.
This year saw more than 120,000 people come together to celebrate multiculturalism in Geelong.
Countless cultures were celebrated, including Spanish, Serbian, Russian, Karenni, Nepalese, Filipino, Chinese, Bulgarian, Italian, Mexican, Aboriginal, Punjabi, Croatian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Bosnian, Thai, African, Ukrainian, Indonesian, Scottish, Irish, Bengali and of course Greek.
While also including many more.
It has been reported that a Palestinian march took place, that was not part of the event according to organisers, with a Jewish leader slamming the group.
The Hellenic Orthodox Community of Melbourne and the Geelong Greek Community School were part of Pako Festa, with the former setting up a food stall with plenty of Greek food, produce and sweets.
The dance group participated in the street parade and performed on stage, providing a dance performance wearing traditional costume
Event co-organiser and Cultura chief executive officer Joy Leggo told Geelong Times it was “the biggest and best Pako Festa yet.”
“It was truly spectacular! To see a crowd of this size, gather together in unity and harmony and to celebrate our differences in a peaceful way is nothing short of miraculous.
“Everyone was there for the same reason, to connect, honour and respect each other’s culture and heritage. It was truly heart-warming to see.”
Despite not being crowned the winners of the street parade, that distinction went to the Italian community, Indonesian Association of Geelong, Geelong West Brass Band and Deakin University, the Greek community represented proudly.
