During 2016 Refugee Week, the presence and contribution of Fairfield’s many former refugees will be celebrated in a number of ways across different sites.
One such event will be a Food and Music Festival, expected to attract 500 local residents to the Fairfield Youth and Community Centre.
This free community event will run from 10am to 1pm on Tuesday June 21 at the Fairfield Youth and Community Centre, 31/55 Vine Street, Fairfield — right opposite the Fairfield Leisure Centre.
The 2016 theme for Australian Refugee Week celebrations is ‘With courage let us all combine’, an obvious reference to the line from the Australian National Anthem.
This theme stresses the core Australian value of embracing the stranger, the migrant, the refugee and recognising their vital contribution to the rich tapestry of the Australian social landscape. This is important as Australia and Fairfield in particular continues to welcome and settle refugees and humanitarian entrants.
This fun event, run under the banner of Fairfield Emerging Communities Partnership, will feature live music from local singers and musicians, a special didgeridoo performance, a cooking competition, traditional Afghan kite making and other fun activities for children, capped off with a delicious lunch, available to all by a gold coin donation.
The Festival is sponsored by many community organisations, including Core Community Services and Settlement Services International.
The Fairfield Emerging Communities Action Partnership, convened by Core Multicultural Communities, is a community-based partnership designed to:
- assist the emerging refugee communities of Fairfield with the development of social/cultural infrastructure and
- build linkages between these communities and mainstream service providers.