The Pan-Macedonian Association of New South Wales celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Dimitria Festival with a dinner dance on Saturday, October 28. The event also marked OXI Day.
The dinner dance took place at the Hermes Lounge in Kogarah, Sydney, from 7pm, and all funds raised on the night were donated to Saint George Hospital.
There were a number of official guests present at the event including the NSW Shadow Minister for Multiculturalism, Mark Coure MP; the First Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Consulate of Greece in Sydney, Anastasia Christofilopoulou; Jacqui Munro MLC; Georges River Councillors Nicholas Smerdely and Sam Stratikopoulos; Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia; Father Athanasios Giatsios; the Vice President of the Inter-Ethnic Communities Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Paul Tsanis; and the President of the Pan-Macedonian Association of NSW, Anastasia Karakominakis; among many other Greek community leaders.
On the night, emcee Tanny Mangos welcomed everyone to the event and spoke about the significance of the Dimitra Festival and OXI Day.
“Tonight we celebrate three historic events, first the national celebration of Greece’s resistance to attacks initiated by the forces of Italy and eventually by Nazi Germany. Secondly, to commemorate the liberation of Thessaloniki from Ottoman rule during the First World War in 1920. And thirdly, to celebrate what the Pan-Macedonian Association of NSW has done for the past four decades – the Dimitria Festival,” Ms Mangos said.
“This is a festival whose origins can be traced back to at least the Byzantine period, and is closely associated with the religious feast day of St Dimitrios… The festival is celebrated all over the world and in Sydney we have been celebrating since 1983.”
Following her introduction, Bishop Christodoulos gave a blessing and there were also a number of speeches by Ms Christofilopoulou, Ms Karakominakis and a member of the Pontoxeniteas NSW youth committee, Eleni Lambousis.
In her speech, Ms Christofilopoulou spoke about the significant role Australia played during the Second World War and touched on how then-Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies’ decision to send Australian troop to Greece in 1941 was “remarkable” for a country with limited ties to Greece at the time.
Ms Karakominakis echoed Ms Christofilopoulou’s sentiments of the significance of OXI Day, and also thanked guests for their support of the Association by raising funds for St George Hospital.
The evening concluded with a moving dance performance by Aristotelian Academy of Greek Dance under instruction from Taki and Stavroula Papapetros, as well as some raffle prizes.
*All photos copyright The Greek Herald.
