Melbourne Pasifika Festival and Charity Walk thrived at Banjo Paterson Reserve in Lynbrook on Saturday 2 December despite the weather.
Hosted by the Women’s Federation for World Peace, Australia (WFWP), the festival aimed to create a village of stalls offering Pasifika cultural displays, cultural food, art and crafts, merchandise, and support organisations. Children’s activities, cultural dances, and bands were showcased throughout the day.
WFWP Australia will use the funds raised during the Charity Walk and festival to sponsor Global Development and Aid projects in the Pacific Islands to educate and empower local women.
WFWP Australia president Anne Bellavance said everyone kept smiling and dancing under the umbrellas during the festival.
“The Melbourne Pasifika Festival is always so much fun for everyone. Highlights are always our extensive variety of Pacific Island food and merchandise stalls, our charity walk, rugby clinics for kids with the Melbourne Rebels, beautiful cultural dance groups, DJ, and live band,” she said.
“Our goal is to make the festival an integral part of the cultural festivities of Melbourne, to come together as a Pasifika community, raise funds to support Global Development & Aid projects within the Island nations of the Pacific, and showcase the beautiful Pasifika culture to the broader Australian community.”
