Rejoice! Launceston has once again celebrated an important day in its calendar of events.
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Last Friday, Launceston's premier multicultural event, Harmony Day, was held in Civic Square and it was a huge success.
The event partners could not have asked for a better day to host it - the sun was shining down on us and the community came together for an afternoon of celebrations.
A community event with food, song, dance and activities in a pre-pandemic environment is busy.
Add the new requirements to meet COVID compliance and you double the work, coordination, planning and resources.
COVID saw crowd restrictions and it was disheartening to close ticket sales when we reached the magic number of 1000.
Leading up to the event, there were occasions where we, the lead, and our event partners, felt overwhelmed.
I, for one, was asking why it was we had put ourselves through this pressure, carry the risks, and was it worth it? Well, the answer to this was crystal clear.
We did it and have done it every year because it is important to celebrate diversity.
It is not just because people want to eat delicious foods from around the world, or watch multicultural performances, and see people in traditional dress. That's all about the audience.
This increased awareness aids appreciation and contributes to community cohesion.
For me, the essence of multicultural events is that people from other countries can express and practice their traditions, and the real gem is young people participating, for example, in performing folk dances.
Folk or traditional dances keep a culture of people alive by sharing and teaching younger generations the dances.
The passing down of the information from one generation to another keeps the history of people alive as well. It is also about the bonding and relationship building that this creates between the young person and the people teaching them such as their parents or members of the community.
For the audience, it is an opportunity to learn about other cultures. This increased awareness aids appreciation and contributes to community cohesion.
Dances performed at this year's Harmony Day involving young people included:
- The Australian Bhutanese Society of Northern Tasmania's sakela dance - This is a typical ritual dance performed by large groups of Kirats wearing their traditional attire. People of all ages dance together in a large circle. Male and female leaders in each circle are known as Silimangpa and Silimangma respectively. They choreograph the dance moves known as sili while others follow them. The sili reflects the different aspects of human life and their relationship with nature.
- The Filipino group's tinikling dance - This folk dance represents the attempts of Filipino rice farmers to catch and prevent the tinikling bird from pecking at ripe rice grains from the fields. The farmers are represented by two people using two long bamboo poles to tap on the floor and clap against each other to the rhythm of music. The tinikling birds are represented by the dancers who use a combination of leaping, hopping and skipping to avoid the clapping of bamboo poles on their ankles.
Other performances were: an Afghan solo dance by Setayesh Karim, a 16-year old girl born in Afghanistan who grew up in Iran before coming to Launceston; Argentine tango; and dances, Lam Pleon and Lam Tawai, paying homage to one of Thailand's sacred beings.
The crowd was also delighted by UTAS students who surprised us with a flash mob dance - followed by Nut Bush City Limits.
The smiles on the faces of the children involved in the performances and everyone who joined in banished all those COVID-safe plans and contact tracing issues from our minds.
Launceston is privileged to be exposed to many cultures and traditions, and be able to celebrate what makes us different.
We have various cultures from the far reaches of the earth, foods from every continent and live together with people who have stories that are vastly different to ours.
Multicultural events remind us of these aspects of diversity worth encouraging and enjoying.
They also cause us to reflect on the fortunate way of life in Tasmania, and be grateful we can celebrate events.
Thank you to the event sponsors and partners, service clubs and volunteers.
Most of all, thank you to the participating community groups and performers, and everyone who supported Launceston's Community Harmony Day.
- Ella Dixon, CEO Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) Northern Tas, a not-for-profit organisation providing quality services that assist migrants to settle and participate in all aspects of life.
