The award-winning Pako Festa returns to Geelong this weekend for the 43rd time.
The event will transform Pakington Street into a microcosm of the world this Saturday, with the iconic Geelong thoroughfare awash with colour, music and the aroma of food from around the globe.
Pako Festa, which draws upward of 90,000 people to Geelong West each year, is all about celebrating the diversity of the region, said Cultura chief executive Joy Leggo.
“We showcase that diversity, and it’s also about social cohesion and civic pride,” Ms Leggo said.
“Pride in people’s nationalities, pride in their national costumes. Cooking their food, being happy and joyful and having a party.
“The world’s not in a great place at the moment, so if we can take a few hours out of the day and share this diversity and the richness it brings, through music, language and food, then I think that’s a good thing.”
Ms Leggo, who has overseen the previous four festivals in her role at Cultura but been involved in Pako Festa for 30 years, said this year’s event had a strong focus on youth.
“Our theme is Our Youth, Our Tomorrow; we’ve done a lot of work with our youth and we want to give them the opportunity to showcase what it means to be a young refugee or new arrival in Australia,” she said.
“They are our future leaders, so they’ll be right up the front leading the parade and have a role to play in the official opening as well.
“They’re the most amazing group of young ambassadors, which is really exciting.”
Ms Leggo invited everyone to “come along and have a good time”.
“We’d love to break that 100,000 mark, 100,000 people being down at Pakington Street,” she said.
“There will be 91 points where people can buy food on the day. We’ve got 24 different ethnic community food stalls, stages with music happening all afternoon.
“It’s all about wandering down and just soaking up the experience, I think.”
Visit pakofesta.com.au for more details and the full Pako Festa program.
