MatchWorks Pako Festa

Next Pako Festa Saturday 27th February 2010!
Official Program 2009 download here

Pako Festa is the largest free celebration of cultural diversity in Australia! Every year, since 1982, it has attracted thousands of people from our local and cultural communities, professional performers, community groups, schools, businesses, street traders and artists from all walks of life.

Coming together in harmony, up to 100,000 people meet to enjoy a smorgasbord of cultural food, folk dancing, the famous Pako Parade, workshops, art exhibitions, films, craft displays, free activities for children and an amazing day of non-stop entertainment.

Record Attendance

MatchWorks Pako Festa, celebrated on Saturday 28 February, saw unprecedented numbers flocking to enjoy the multicultural celebration. Police have estimated that attendance was up around 10% from last year, and that over the course of the day about 110,000 people came to see Pako Festa.

Event manager Luisa La Fornara said, “There is no doubt that this was our biggest Pako Festa ever, and one of the best things about the day was that despite the crowds - there were no major incidents. It was a day when Geelong celebrated in true harmony. Thanks to all and Viva la Pako Festa!”

Pako Parade

At 11am the great Pako Festa Parade commenced. With 80 different cultural or community groups being represented – and many of them in larger numbers than ever before – this was our biggest Parade on record. Crowds jostled for the best position as a colourful stream of cultural and community floats, groups, entertainers and brass bands flowed along the 1 kilometer festival precinct.

With the theme “The Colours of Culture”, the grand Pako Festa Parade presented an incredible spectrum of outstanding costume and floats. We were pleased to welcome members of the Karen community to the parade – representing the most recent refugee group to call Geelong home.

Around 150 people marched from MatchWorks, there were over 100 from the Geelong Chinese Association carrying an impressive Chinese Dragon, and both the Newtown Primary School and Bosnian Lily Association contributed around 100 people each to the parade. There were resounding cheers and applause for the boys from the CFA who were last in the Parade line.

2009 Parade winners were awarded in the following catagories:

Best School - St Patricks.

Most culturally aware - Chinese Community.

Best interpretation of the theme – Thai Community.

A celebration for all people, all day

From 9am, the street started filling with people who came to browse through the eclectic range of stalls selling everything from ethnic fashion to fairy wings.

The Geelong West Library displayed posters that had been created by children from primary schools of Geelong West and surrounding areas.They also hosted a Chess Tournament with the Geelong Chess Club and badge making workshops for children.

At the Youth area on the corner of Pakington and Hope Streets, entertainment included youth bands live on stage, Xbox games, and skate and scooter ramps. Skate and scooter from 12noon - 4pm.

Children enjoyed an animal nursery, painting in the park, a children’s gym interactive music, scouts physical challenges in West Park and storytelling, singing, and dancing in West Town Hall.

Ex-Statik - In Roman mythology, fauns were place-spirits of the untamed woodlands. They had horns, resembling goats from the waist down and humans from the waist up. At Pako Festa, our three faun-like performers also come complete with short, jumping stilts!

• Dazzling Dan the Magic Man – Dazzling Dan is making his debut at Pako Festa! If he hasn’t done a vanishing act – you might be able to find him in West Park.
• Pan - Vibrant sounds from the Brazilian and Caribbean carnivals, such as samba and calypso, the exciting Spanish rumba, the sensual rhythms from Latin America, such as salsa, cumbia, cha cha cha and the sophisticated bossa-nova and jazz standards.
• No Bull – These cows are genetically engineered, they are the future! A roving act based around music and bovine comedy. Their music is highly exciting & energetic, combining elements from - Funk, Jazz, Latin, Calypso, Country '&' Western to World Music.
• Geelong (Bay City) Concords – See this fabulous harmony singing group in the parade then roving the streets in the afternoon.
• Tall Poppies - Comedy, music and crazy costumes performing on stilts.
• Inka Marka. A five piece Melbourne based group with musicians playing strings, wind and percussion, delivering a rich full sound.
There were brilliant buskers, a vast spread of ethnic and local foods, and a string of roving street performers.
From noon until around 7pm, performances on four world music stages, a dedicated Youth Stage, the West Town Hall stage and the Channel 7 stage. From Macedonians to Maoris, Spanish to Sudanese, Indians to Italians, Ukrainians to you name it - the program is as varied as it is exciting.