Next weekend is the weekend where North Queensland truly comes alive and turns Greek with the Xstrata Greek Fest. The festival is a unique opportunity for North Queensland and its visitors to embrace both Greek and Australian cultures through music, dance, cuisine, fun and games.
The Hellenic dancers from the senior groups to the younger children will be performing various dances of mainland Greece and the Greek islands. For the official opening, the senior group will do a mythological theatre performance. As part of the festival’s cultural exchange program, Sizmos, a dancing group from Sydney, will also be performing. The children’s component this year is the popular Shrek and Fiona who will perform four shows over the weekend.
These shows are provided free of charge for a younger audience and their families – many whom travel from surrounding districts. Six-piece band Steki from Sydney will be playing all the popular songs of Greece and audience participation in the dancing is encouraged. There will be grape stomping, plate smashing, olive spitting, cooking demonstrations, and more. There is an activities marquee for the children and there will be fireworks. A vast selection of Greek culinary delights will be available – souvlakia, octopus, calamari, yiros, fish, spanakopites – to name a few. A licensed bar will have Greek beer and wines. The Greek Festival is a family orientated event.
Xstrata Greek Fest Townsville will this weekend, 8 and 9 October, at Riverway Park, Kirwan. For more information check our web site: www.greekfest.com.au