Antipodes Festival, a cornerstone of the Greek community, returns this weekend on February 25 and 26, at Lonsdale Street, promising another unforgettable experience filled with music, dance, and culinary delights.
Leonidas Vlahakis, the GCM Cultural Committee Chair, told Neos Kosmos that the local government has officially recognised the Antipodes Festival as “a Tier 1 event for the first time,” placing it alongside major events such as “the Melbourne Cup, the AFL Grand Final Day, and the Formula 1 Grand Prix.”
“It’s not just our Greek community’s festival; it’s literally Melbourne’s Greek festival, which of course makes us very happy and proud – but what truly stands out is the increasing number of non-Greek attendees we see every year,” remarked Vlahakis.
He noted that there is a particular group of people who show great interest in the event each year, traveling exclusively from abroad just to attend the festivities that take place on the weekend.
“For many non-Greeks, it is quite a spectacle to witness children as young as five, six-, or seven-years old dancing and singing, or to watch a 70-year-old woman still performing.
It’s always heartwarming for me to see grandparents who come to town once a year just to watch their grandchild dance.”
Vlahakis described this year’s festival as “the biggest event” ever organised, featuring 90 stalls, cooking demonstrations, about 600 performers, and 3 stages offering 90 hours of entertainment.
He also mentioned that 50 extra stall applications had to be turned down as “there was no space.”
Reflecting on the significant evolution of the “Antipodes” Festival over the years, Vlahakis expressed his delight in the shifting dynamic where, in the past, the festival’s crew reached out to the community, whereas now it is the community driving the interest.
“At one time, we used to reach out to the community and say, ‘Who can we invite?’ Now, the interest comes from the community itself. There is not a week that goes by without a stranger calling me with an idea for the festival.”
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Bill Papastergiadis OAM, the President of the Greek Community of Melbourne, described the Antipodes Festival as an event that “transcends the Greek community,” serving as a significant cultural celebration that attracts people from diverse backgrounds and contributes to the global promotion of Greek culture and tradition.
He emphasised that while a key aspect of Antipodes is “bringing our community together from many different cultural backgrounds,” the festival’s appeal also “lies in the way the City transforms into a thriving Greek metropolis, where the broader Australian population can fully immerse themselves in Hellenic culture, through constant live Greek music, food, theatre, dance and always an international act.”
“It reinforces the contribution of the Hellenic Community to the city, state and country, while at the same time it allows for Melbourne to reinforce itself as one of the leading multicultural and cosmopolitan capitals of the world.”
The President of the Greek Community of Melbourne said that the anticipation and planning for the next Festival begin “the moment the festival finishes each year.”
“This has been the case for the past 12 months since our last festival ended,” he noted.
The interest in the stalls “were through the roof,” Papastergiadis added, while the “requests by dance groups and musicians, and all sorts of providers of Hellenic culture” exceeded all expectations.
“Everyone considers this as the premier event to participate and perform, but most importantly, the public embraces it.”
Papastergiadis mentioned that the number of people expected to attend the festival this weekend is about the same as last year, “if not more.”
Being “the only organisation that closes two city blocks for an entire weekend,” he believes that “as the years have passed, (the festival) has gained additional attraction, and momentum, and it will continue to grow and expand.”