Over the weekend, Melbourne’s Lonsdale street played host once more to the Antipodes Festival – the largest celebration of Greek culture outside of Greece.
The two-day festival, organised by the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM), featured 80 pop-up market stalls alongside face-painting, competitions, giveaways, traditional shadow puppet shows, and a series of traditional music and dance performances.
During the official speeches on the Saturday, Victoria’s Premier, Daniel Andrews, opened with a boisterous “yiasas!”, which was met with loud applause and a reciprocating “yiasas.”
“It is great to be here in one of the great, Greek cities of the world,” Premier Andrews said, placing the Victorian capital city alongside Athens and Thessaloniki.
“We of course gather here to celebrate all that the Greeks have given us in Melbourne, in Victoria, in Australia and across the world.”
The Victorian Premier then announced that if re-elected, his government would commit $800,00 over the next four years to support the Antipodes Festival “so it can be bigger and better than it has ever been.”
This promise was followed by Opposition Leader, Matthew Guy, who said: “Tonight Melbourne is Greek and this festival has been a wonderful part of our city’s multicultural foundation.”
“Whatever happens at the end of the year at the election, this committee who runs this wonderful event will receive $800,000 to keep it going,” Mr Guy added.
