Confluence of culture, cuisine and community
By MADHUCHANDA DAS.
The streets of Glen Huntly came alive on October 17 as the Glen Huntly Primary School (GHPS) staged the Culture Fest, its multicultural fundraising event to celebrate culture, community and cuisine. The event featured a wide array of food, drinks, music, dance and arts and crafts, highlighting the diversity of the school. It also provided a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the vivid colours of the multicultural school community.
Despite the wet weather, people of all ages thronged the stalls that featured Indian, Japanese, German and Russian cuisine and cakes baked by school mums, along with the all-time favourite BBQ and the classic café.
Art and craft were displayed by Crafty Mums, a group of GHPS mums who get together on the last Friday of each month to share craft ideas from around the world. They make items through the year to sell at fundraisers, and also enjoy a coffee/cake, and lots of conversation. Other notable stalls were the Indian henna painting, beading and origami.
Commending the marvellous whole school community effort, School Principal Libby Alessi said, “The opportunity for an event to be planned, prepared for and held is just extraordinary and I feel very lucky to have been a part of this fabulous day.”
The day’s performances included singing by the school’s choir, Greek dancing, Israeli dancing, a Salsa demonstration, belly dancing and rhythmic gymnastics. Last but definitely not the least was the ever-popular Bollywood dancing that featured schoolgirls Sanchali Das, Shweta Das, Noopur Desai and Yukta Patel grooving to Mauja hi Mauja, choreographed by school mum Madhu Das. It was a delight to watch the audience spiritedly pouring on stage to shake a leg as the song played over and over again.
School mum Lee Maher, who with husband Brian Coghlan, assisted with the entertainment program for the day said, “We were well represented by the many cultures in our school and everyone enjoyed the performances. I think events such as this bring the school community even closer, as no matter where we were born, we are all Australian and have something valuable to contribute.”
The fascinating potpourri of flavours, music, dance and heritage fused to create a rich, multi-hued tapestry of a happy community. Indeed, the ambience of the fest reflected that one of the best ways to get to know a culture is by sharing. There was respect, appreciation and celebration of diversity in the air.
Fete co-ordinators Therese Mc Evoy and Andrea Hill echoed similar views. “The atmosphere was warm and friendly, even if the weather was not! The event was a fundraiser for the school, however I think we also achieved our greater goal which was to bring the school and local community together in a celebration of our diversity,” remarked Therese.
“Staging an event like this takes a lot of work by a lot of people, and you never know how it will be received until you try it. But a joyous community spirit was there for everyone to see, feel and share, so I couldn’t be happier with the final result,” reflected Andrea.
The success of the event and the tremendous fun it brought resolutely reverberated that our world was, beyond a shadow of doubt, one vibrant, harmonious rainbow. To me it implied more – I thought Culture Fest credibly substantiated the age old Sanskrit phrase vasudhaiva kutumbakam, meaning the whole world is one single family.
