The Federation of Pontian Associations of Australia is hosting a three-day convention full of music, dance, and history in honour of their Pontian culture.
It’s an opportunity for the younger generations to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Federation’s most valued principles.
This year’s Synapantema in Melbourne will take place between Friday 17 and Sunday 19 February, with a pinnacle dinner-dance event on Saturday evening.
It invites all generations, to learn and appreciate the value of working together, placing emphasis on the youth, as the core of the Federation’s success has been based on teaching those lessons early.
“It started as a dinner get together, for those that came from overseas” Peter Stefanidis, President of the Federation of Pontian Associations of Australia tells Neos Kosmos, remembering his first Pontian gathering.
“The first time we got together was 19 years ago. It was a small thing back then, with only 100 people”.
“Unfortunately, in the beginning we didn’t have a lot of young people participating”.
However, “since then it has received a lot of support from the members, now being the biggest Pontian event in Australia,” he adds.
“Our goal is to cultivate the next leaders of society. Synapantema has been inspirational for our youth” explains Mr. Stefanidis, while highlighting the importance of “being together” as well as “working together”.
“The meaning and message we want to convey to the next generations is that apart from the love we feel for our Federation and associations, what is particularly important is our culture”.
“The love and togetherness we want to promote are basically tools that we use to connect to our culture. The better we use them, the more things we will be able to achieve together”.
“Akrites Tou Pontou” of Victoria together with the Pontic Foundation of Australia “Panagia Soumela” are the two main organisers of this event.
The three-day convention starts off with a Parakath on Friday, an informal event where members of the Federation from the host state (this year being Akrites Tou Pontou of Victoria) welcome their interstate guests.
Saturday’s program will begin with a dance workshop for the youth followed by the official gala event, hosted by George Donikian; expected to be a night of unity with all the Federation’s dance groups performing as one.
The Federation will present its national awards to members of the community who’ve contributed their time, effort, and resources to the preservation of their culture, in the lead up to the night’s main event.
Namely, when two giants of Pontian culture, Alexi Parcharidis and Fanis Kourouklidis offer up a magical musical performance to attendees.
The three-day convention will end on Sunday when the Federation will lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance and commemorate the sacrifices made by the women of Greece between 1915 and 1930.
The wreath laying ceremony will be followed by a talk on the topic by Dr Panayiotis Diamandis at the Shrine’s auditorium.
With the Federation going through a “dark period” between 2010 and 2011; Mr. Stefanidis admits that “everything had turned to ashes.”
“We needed to rebuild everything from scratch,” he recalls.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes in 2016 the Federation was reborn, as the associations united and held joint performances of their musical troupes, with 150 dancers accompanying the Pontian gatherings to this day.
Mr. Stefanidis remembers his first Synapantema in 2004, one which he calls “inspirational”.
“It was on that day that I saw the potential, the opportunity in these gatherings. The idea that once a year it’s possible to have unity between brothers and sisters”.
The Synapantema is a testament to the strength of the Federation, what it has become and where its priorities lie when it comes to the preservation of culture.
“What we want is to pass the baton to the young people. We have a responsibility to shape the next leaders by giving them responsibilities of their own.”
“And of course, it’s important for them to know that we are always there to support them. We need leaders, otherwise the Pontian element will be lost.”
