Cyprus Food and Wine Festival returns to Sydney better than ever

·

The Cyprus Food and Wine Festival returned bigger and better than ever to the Sydney Inner West suburb of Stanmore on Sunday, November 19.

The Festival is organised by the Cyprus Community of New South Wales and was officially opened on Friday, November 17 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

cyprus food and wine festival
All photos copyright The Greek Herald.
cyprus food and wine festival

The official ceremony was held at the Cyprus Community Club in the presence of a number of official guests including the Deputy Head of Mission at the Cyprus High Commission, Stavros Nicolaou; Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia; the First Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Consulate of Greece in Sydney, Anastasia Christofilopoulou; the President of the Cypriot Community of NSW, Andrew Costa; and the President of the Federation of Cypriot Communities of Australia, Michael Christodoulou.

A number of speeches were given on the night by Bishop Christodoulos, Mr Costa and Mr Nicolaou.

In his speech, the Bishop wished the Cyprus Community good luck for the festival. Mr Costa spoke next and thanked the NSW Government for providing a $15,000 grant to support the event.

“The festival has been held for more than 50 years and every year we aim to make it better than ever and bring more people,” Mr Costa said, before explaining the importance of traditional Cypriot food and wine and why it needs to be recognised in Australia.

cyprus food and wine festival

Mr Nicolaou gave a resounding address in Greek on the night, stressing that the Cyprus Community needs to put aside its differences and be united for the benefit of Cyprus and the local diaspora. Events such as the Cyprus Food and Wine festival are pivotal to this unity, he said.

“To remain united is the key to protecting all of Cyprus,” Mr Nicolaou added.

Attendees were then entertained for the remainder of the night with music by Mario Evripidou and Mr Michalis, as well as dancing performances by the Cyprus Community of NSW dancers.

cyprus food and wine festival
cyprus food and wine festival

Cypriot culture on full display:

On Sunday, the Festival continued outdoors with dozens of Cypriot food stalls, from fresh BBQ octopus to Cypriot koupes. The passion for wine also echoed across the Festival, with wine barrels open for the public to serve themselves and enjoy.

cyprus food and wine festival
cyprus food and wine festival
cyprus food and wine festival

Festival-goers visited stalls selling icons, jewellery, pottery and information about the Cypriot language and island. 

Formal proceedings on the day included speeches by the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Ioannis Mallikourtis; Mr Nicolaou; Mr Costa and archaeologist Craig Barker. Michael Kyriakou read out official letters sent by the NSW Governor Margaret Beazley and the NSW Liberal Leader, Mark Speakman.

cyprus food and wine festival

There were also a number of vibrant dancing performances by dancing groups such as the Cyprus Community of NSW dancers, the Kalymnian Association of NSW dancers, Sydney Greek Dancing School, and Pontoxeniteas NSW.

cyprus food and wine festival
cyprus food and wine festival
cyprus food and wine festival

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Bella Spasis’ big deal: Live music in Victoria set to thrive

Greek-Victorian bar owner, Isabella (Bella) Spasis, hosted a remarkable event at her venue, ‘The Dog’s Bar’ early on Sunday morning, July 6.

GOCNSW Home for the Aged welcomes Consul General and celebrates its donors

The Greek Orthodox Community Home for the Aged played host to the Consul General of Greece in Sydney and some of its major donors.

Father Athanasios Giatsios appointed Orthodox Chaplain at Macquarie University

Father Athanasios Giatsios has been appointed as the new Orthodox Chaplain at Macquarie University. Read more here.

Spiro Pappas honoured at Emirates Business Awards 2025 for Sustainable Innovation

Entrepreneur Spiro Pappas, Founder and CEO of Eureka-Tec, was honoured at the Emirates Business Awards 2025.

Oakleigh grandfather’s 40-year lottery dream comes true with $1 million win

An Oakleigh man spotted his lottery numbers printed in the newspaper, revealing a $1 million Weekday Windfall win.

You May Also Like

NSW Premier welcomes John Hatzistergos as ICAC Chief Commissioner

Dominic Perrottet confirmed the appointment of the Honourable John Hatzistergos as Chief Commissioner of ICAC on Thursday.

Australian Open First Round: Tsitsipas beats Caruso and Sakkari’s match is postponed

Stefanos Tsitsipas burst into the Australian Open second round on Monday night by sweeping past Italian Stefano Caruso 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 43 minutes...

How smart sensor technology can help elderly Greeks live independently for longer

Elderly Greeks in Australia want to stay in their own home for as long as possible. For their adult children, it can be worrying.