Holy Family Cultural Day has been celebrated for the last four years in early March to synchronise with the theme of Harmony Day (State Government initiative). The objective of the Cultural Day is to bring various cultures of Holy Family Parish together in faith to foster community spirit and an appreciation and understanding of each other´s culture.
Our cultural heritage, to name a few, includes parishioners from Bangladesh, El Salvador, England, Fiji, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Each year the celebration has a particular focus. In the first year of celebration (14 March 2004) the main aim was to provide an environment where we could learn of each other´s traditions, history and customs. Stalls were set up to display exhibits of each country.
In the second year (6 March 2005) the celebration centred around the dress of each country, with particular focus on children´s activities. The highlights of the day were a tai-kwondo demonstration together with entertainment provided by the children of the Holy Family primary school.
The central theme for the third year (5 March 2006) was ´food´. It provided an opportunity for everyone to sample and taste traditional dishes of various cultures. The event was very successful with about 400 parishioners participating. Everyone was encouraged to learn a phrase in another language.
In the fourth year of celebration (25 March 2007) parishioners gathered together to renew community spirit. As usual, celebration commenced with a Mass. Parishioners in traditional dress accompanied Fr John in procession to the altar at the start of the Mass. The highlight of the event was a rendition of ´We Are Australians´ at the end of Mass by a young parishioner. There was not a dry eye in the congregation of about 500 parishioners.
CULTURAL DAY 2007 Photos:
(Click on any photo to zoom in)
