Be curious, start a conversation and celebrate our richly diverse community as part of Cultural Diversity Week from 21 to 29 March 2020.
This annual feature on the Hobsons Bay calendar will be celebrated throughout the municipality with a week of free activities and events.
Highlights include bilingual storytimes, playgroups, lawn bowls, cricket, a cultural tattoo exhibition, Chinese calligraphy, a native plant walk and talk, Creative Kid’s Club sessions, and afternoon teas.
Cultural Diversity Week is Victoria’s biggest annual multicultural celebration and coincides with the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
It also intersects with This Girl Can Week – 23 to 29 March – with local sports clubs inviting girls and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to try new sports and get active again.
Hobsons Bay is home to people from more than 140 different countries with our residents speaking more than 100 different languages.
Pick up a program from your local library or community centre, or download a copy from www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/culturaldiversityweek
As stated by Mayor of Hobsons Bay and joint Social Wellbeing and Community Services portfolio holder Cr Colleen Gates.
“Our Hobsons Bay community is rich in diversity and Cultural Diversity Week presents a great opportunity to celebrate this, connect and learn more about others and their backgrounds, and help make Hobsons Bay an inclusive place to live, work and play.
“Hobsons Bay resident and 2020 Citizen of the Year, Myly Nguyen leads by example. A former refugee who fled Vietnam by boat in 1981, Ms Nguyen was recognised for her contribution in establishing a number of local organisations that encourage community connection, offer support and celebrate cultural heritage.”
As stated by joint Social Wellbeing and Community Services portfolio holder Cr Tony Briffa.
“We don’t have to leave Hobsons Bay to enjoy worldly flavours, and spiritual adventures – it’s all right here in our local community.
“From our First Nation people to our successive waves of migrants, our diversity is continually changing and shaping our community.
“Let’s draw on this rich diversity together to connect and share in our common humanity.”
