Page 615 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 February 2020
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on the success of previous years with an event that continues to promote our welcoming and inclusive city at one of Australia’s largest celebrations of multiculturalism.
We are expecting once again to have thousands of people make their way in to the festival and in to the city’s heart this weekend. With 360 stalls and hundreds of performers across the six stages and three days, it will be fantastic. We are very excited this year to have SBS Food partnering with the festival. They will be onsite across the weekend, capturing the festival with its incredible colours, sounds and displays.
This event has been and always will be about the community. Our multicultural communities in Canberra are the groups that make this festival possible. I would like to take the opportunity to thank them for all the work that they have been putting in for this weekend, and for the previous years of the festival—the volunteers, the performers, the diplomatic missions, the stallholders and the community groups—and for their work in organising this major event.
I want to acknowledge the work of our Chinese community, who still have a presence at the festival, but this year are not able to run the China stage due to the impact of the Coronavirus overseas and the travel ban, which has meant that volunteers and performers were not able to make it to Canberra for the festival. We and the Canberra community stand with them during this challenging time. We look forward to them returning bigger and better to the festival next year for the 25th anniversary event.
MR GUPTA: Minister, what are some of the highlights Canberrans can expect to see at this weekend’s festival?
MR STEEL: I thank Mr Gupta for his supplementary question. Entertainment will kick off tomorrow night with the opening concert featuring Australian singer-songwriter Vanessa Amorosi. On Sunday, festival-goers will be able to join former MasterChef winner Adam Liaw as he gives a series of cooking demonstrations and talks. Vanessa and Adam will be joined by local performers, including Canberra’s own Liv Li, who will be performing on the six stages.
We will also be able to enjoy the showcases, as always, from India, Greece, Africa, the Pacific, Celtic cultures and the Latin countries, as well as our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. These acts will complement the enormous array of food and information stalls and displays from every part of the world.
Glebe Park has also been added to this year’s festival footprint, with stalls and activities occurring there, particularly as a peaceful space for families and children on Saturday and Sunday. We are also taking further steps this year to deliver an environmentally sustainable festival in line with our commitment to phase out single-use, problematic and unnecessary plastics.
It has been a challenging start to the year for many people in our region, with the bushfire crisis, extreme weather and health matters of public concern. The advice of the Chief Health Officer is that the festival is safe for the Canberra community to
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