Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Multicultural Children's Festival reflects the reality of today's society
Multicultural Children's Festival 2017 was held at First Fleet Park
Circular Quay Sydney
The NSW Minister for Multiculturalism,
Hon. Ray Williams MP, has hailed the Multicultural Children's Festival 2017 as
a true reflection of the state's success as a culturally diverse society.
Speaking at the annual gathering of hundreds of children from scores of cultural
backgrounds on Saturday, 13th May, at First Fleet Park, Circular Quay, Sydney,
Minister Ray Williams said:
"We are the most culturally diverse country on
this earth and yet we are the most socially cohesive and I don't think there is
any other way to express the fact that we embrace our rich diversity than
through our young children.
The NSW Minister for Multiculturalism, Hon. Ray Williams MP
"We want people to come and be a part of this country.
We want them to be a part of Australia. We want them to be wonderful
Australians. We never want them to forget where they come from, we never want
them to forget their heritage and we never want them to forget their language
and all that has been celebrated so wonderfully well today."
Hon. Ray
Williams told the crowd at the festival that "what started as a very, very
small event 18 years ago has now morphed into a major festival celebrating the
many people that make up our society today in New South Wales, through our
children."
Thuat Van Nguyen
The Festival's Founder, Thuat Van Nguyen, said during
the opening ceremony:
"The success of the festival over the past 18 years
has proved that it meets the expectation of our community in so many ways.
"We strongly believe that children are a starting point in building social
cohesion and therefore the Children's Festival is one of the best ways to
create harmony in our community as well as to make us feel proud of being
Australians.
"Our success with this festival suggests that we are
contributing to a more cohesive society and promoting peace in our
community.
"One of the pleasing features of the Children's Festival 2017 was
the involvement of an indigenous cultural group who were proud to appear with
children of many more-recently arrived communities. We also presented a
choreographed modern dance performed by children of different cultural
backgrounds.
“Whilst some performance groups strictly reflect the physical
backgrounds of their culture, others are now happily reflecting the diversity
of the society itself and this is wonderful to see, especially amongst
children", he said.
Altogether, some hundreds of children from dozens of ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds participated in stage performances and in the colorful multicultural children's parade as well as a dozen of outdoor activities.
The festival which had originally been planned for March 19 was cancelled due to continuous rain over many days prior to the date. It was presented as part of The City of Sydney's Living in Harmony Festival 2017 and sponsored by Multicultural NSW and other project partners.The Children's Festival 2017 in Bankstown Sydney will be held on Sunday 17th of September.