The Paniyiri Greek Festival will return to Brisbane’s Greek Club precinct from Saturday, May 22 to May 23, 2021.
It will mark the 45th anniversary of Australia’s biggest and longest-running Greek festival and feature a mix of virtual and COVID-safe in-person events. Last year’s event was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Paniyiri Greek Festival. Photo: The Good Guide.
The festival has moved from its usual Musgrave Park location to The Greek Club on Edmondstone Street in South Brisbane.
Attendees can expect a line-up of dancing and live music events, as well as cooking demonstrations. A new loukoumades pop-up drive-through and a wide array of authentic Greek food will also be on display.
The Panayiri Festival will host the multigenerational Hellenic Dancers. Photo: ushhushbiz.com.
The festival will host celebrity chefs and the crowd-favourite Hellenic Dancers.
Nostimo Restaurant at The Greek Club is celebrating Paniyiri for the whole month of May with lunch and dinner specials.
Sydney historian, Vasilis Vasilas, is set to officially launch his new book Little Athens: Marrickville on Sunday, May 9 at the Marrickville Town Hall at 4pm.
The book will focus on the personal narratives and photographs of Marrickville’s shops and businesses, looking at their longevity and success, as well as their contribution to local, national and international markets.
Vasilas tells The Greek Herald he’s looking forward to the launch as the book has been in the works for a long time.
OlAt the Grand Opening of Olympia Refigeration, run by the Skoufis family on Meeks Road. Photo supplied.
“Part One of Little Athens: Marrickville was released late 2019 and it was meant to be officially launched under the auspices of the Greek Festival of Sydney April 2020. So much happened last year, with the COVID 19 outbreak and its restrictions, which brought our world to a sudden standstill and, like so many other events, it was postponed,” Vasilas says.
“One year has passed and I certainly did not sit around waiting for this launch. I just continued gathering stories and photographs and this version of Little Athens: Marrickville is very different because there are over thirty stories (plus photographs) added to the original part one – that is an extra two hundred pages!”
Golden Fleece Service Station in Marrickville Road and it was run by Jim Liakatos and Efstratios Piperitis. It is now apartment blocks. Photo supplied.
This upcoming launch will see Vasilis release a special ‘Festival Edition’ of his book, with only a very small number of books available. The limited edition copy will also feature a special foreword from the Mayor of Inner West Council, Darcy Byrne.
“It is quite a large volume… and there is a cross section of the iconic Greek businesses, ones that closed down and quite a number of recent businesses, so this highlights Marrickville’s past and present Greek shops and businesses, and it strongly suggests the Greek entrepreneurial presence will continue in Marrickville,” Vasilas explains.
Olympic Spare Parts on Station Street run by Bill Stathis Papadakis. Photo supplied.
And that’s not all that will continue as Vasilas says Little Athens is an “ongoing project” and there’s more to come after the book launch.
“Little Athens… is an extension of my work looking at the diversity of Greek shops and business in the Agora Series. Marrickville is an important thread within the greater Greek business network,” Vasilas concludes.
On Wednesday evening, at the invitation of the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Adrian Schrinner, the leaders of the Greek Community of Brisbane attended a Civic Reception held at Brisbane’s City Hall to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution.
In the absence of the Lord Mayor, who was attending a Lord Mayors Conference in Adelaide, the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Krista Adams, hosted the reception.
Brisbane’s Deputy Mayor, Councillor Krista Adams, hosted the reception. Photo supplied.
The Deputy Mayor welcomed everyone and spoke at length on the significance of the milestone anniversary and the integral part the Greek community has played in the fabric of the city of Brisbane.
The Honorary Consul-General of Greece in Queensland, Mr Jim Raptis OBE, responded to the Deputy Mayor’s address and thanked the Deputy Mayor for the hospitality extended to the Greek Community in celebration of the 200th Anniversary of Greek Independence.
Brisbane’s Greek community leaders attend civic reception to mark Greek Revolution bicentenary. Photo supplied.
In his response, Mr Raptis also referred to the important role City Hall has played in significant events throughout history and that the building’s architecture is influenced by the classical Greek style and how this style reflects the time of the height of democracy of Ancient Greece.
Guests at the reception included many Councillors of the Wards of Brisbane, the recently retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland, the Honourable Anthe Philippides, representing the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in Queensland, Rev. Father Timothy Evangelinidis, Presidents of the various Greek Communities in Brisbane and many Philhellenes.
Kayla Itsines has spoken about living with endometriosis and her Sweat fitness programs in an exclusive interview with Women’s Health.
The Greek-Australian fitness influencer opened up about her battle with the disease that saw her undergo surgery.
“I had so many cysts burst in the 12 months leading up to that surgery,” she tells Women’s Health’s Alex Davies.
“I was just glad to have my body back – just internally to feel like it’s my body again. I got my first period which was a lot lighter – it wasn’t an ice pack here and a heat pack there and needing to sit on the shower floor. There wasn’t that big drama.
Credit: Women’s Health Magazine.
“Maybe an aspirin or anti-inflammatory, but not heavy meds to combat all this pain. It’s just different, it’s way better.”
The Adelaidean is best known for her meal-planning and workout app Sweat with Kayla and boasts 12.8 million Instagram followers.
She founded her Sweat fitness programs with ex-fiancé Tobi Pearce and details their separation in the latest Women’s Health issue.
She says the separation was hard, but that she & Tobi are in a good place.
“For everyone, and for every woman, in that situation, it is a really hard time,” she said. “I think what’s important is to just take time to adjust to life by yourself.”
Itsines is best known for her meal-planning and workout app Sweat with Kayla.
Itsines is in a new relationship, although is keeping details secret for now.
“It’s early days,” she said. “I’m super happy. We have a strong sense of family and a love for fitness (in common).”
She also reveals why she shelved the Bikini Body Guide (BBG) label, once a core element of her Sweat fitness program.
“I felt that, to be honest, BBG seemed outdated,” she said.
“It wasn’t something I wanted [my daughter] Arna to grow up with. It was an acronym developed 10 years ago with positive intent, of course, and this incredible and amazing community has grown.”
The Hon Tom Koutsantonis MP plans on passing a motion next week in the House of Assembly of the South Australian Parliament, calling for the state government to recognise May 19 as the official day of remembrance of the Greek genocide.
In a Facebook post, Mr Koutsantonis stressed that “on May 19 every year we must pause and remember what our brothers and sisters of Pontos and Asia Minor suffered at the hands of the Turkish Military.”
“The first modern organised genocide, 3.5 million murdered, of them 353,000 Hellenes, 1.5 million Armenians, 500,000 Syrians and other Christian minorities. We remember, we are still here, we will never forget and we demand justice.”
Koutsantonis MP to lead motion to recognise Greek Pontian Genocide Remembrance Day in South Australia.
The motion is as follows:
On May 12, I will move that this house:
Recognise May 19 as the Day of Remembrance for the genocide by the Ottoman state from 1915-1918 of Armenian, Hellenes, Syrians and other minorities in Asia Minor.
Congratulate the International Association of Genocide Scholars and many other nations that have officially recognised that Armenians, Hellenes, Syrians and other minorities were subject to genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish military in Asia Minor.
Note that this house officially recognised that genocide in 2009, moved by the Hon. Michael Atkinson.
Join with members of the Armenian Australian, Pontian Greek Australian and Syrian Australian communities in honouring the memories of the innocent men, women and children who feel victim to the first modern genocide.
Again condemn the genocide of Armenians, Pontian Greeks, Syrian Orthodox and other Christian minorities and all other acts of genocide as the ultimate act of racial, religious and cultural intolerance as endorsed by this House in 2009.
Calls on the Turkish Republic to accept responsibility for the genocide of 3.5 million from Asia Minor, according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars. More than 353,000 Hellenes of Asia Minor and Pontus, 1.5 million Armenians and 500,000 Syrians, the displacement and suffering of millions more, and calls on the Turkish Republic to finally apologise for this act of genocide it perpetrated, beginning in 1915.
One of four men who allegedly kidnapped former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill is the brother of his ex-partner.
Marino Sotiropoulos, 46, is accused of confronting the retired leg-spin bowler on the corner of Parraween and Winnie streets in Cremorne on April 14.
Two other men allegedly bundled Mr MacGill into a car before driving to a home at Bringelly in Sydney’s west.
Detectives said he was then bashed and held at gunpoint for an hour before being dumped at Belmore in Sydney’s south-west.
Six days later, the incident was reported to police.
Four people have been arrested over the alleged kidnapping of Stuart MacGill. Photo: NSW Police/Cricket Times.
“Everyone experiences trauma differently — to be dragged into a car, driven to a remote location, physically assaulted, threatened with a firearm —I think you would be pretty worried about your own personal safety,” Detective Acting Superintendent Anthony Holton said.
“He was seen as someone that they could get money from, although no money was paid prior to him being released.”
Heavily armed officers stormed homes at Caringbah and Sutherland in Sydney’s south, arresting four men, including Mr Sotiropoulos.
Raids were also carried out at apartments in Brighton Le Sands and Marrickville.
For the past three years, Mr MacGill has been managing a restaurant and bar called Aristotle’s at Neutral Bay on Sydney’s lower north shore.
For the past three years the ex-cricketer has been managing a restaurant owned by former partner Maria O’Meagher. Photo: Yahoo Sport Australia / Instagram / NSW Police.
The Greek restaurant on Young Street is owned by his ex-partner, Maria O’Meagher.
Her brother, Mr Sotiropoulos, has been charged with take/detain company with intent to get advantage, occasion actual bodily harm, participate in a criminal group and supply prohibited drug (large commercial quantity).
Three other men, aged 27, 29, and 42, also faced Sutherland Court on Wednesday and were refused bail.
Mr MacGill was seen leaving his Cremorne apartment in a car driven by detectives on Wednesday afternoon and it is believed he was required to make a further statement.
Mr MacGill played 44 Test matches for Australia, and three one-day internationals, between 1998 and 2008.
At the time, he was widely regarded as the world’s second-best leg-spinner, but his career largely played out in Shane Warne’s shadow.
In 2015, Mr MacGill sued Cricket Australia for $2.6 million for failing to pay him injury payments after his retirement.
Two years later, a confidential settlement was reached.
This year’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters winner, Stefanos Tsitsipas, cruised past Benoit Paire 6-1 6-2 after 54 minutes to move into the third round of the Madrid Mutua Open.
Tstitsipas is tied with Andrey Rublev for the most tour-level wins in 2021 with 27 victories.
Tsitsipas took a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. The Greek player sealed the first set 6-1 with his second break at love. Paire received a visit from the trainer due to an abdominal injury.
The second set started with a trade of breaks. Tsitsipas earned two consecutive breaks in the fifth and seventh games to close out the second set 6-2. He will face Casper Ruud, who eased past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1 6-2 with two breaks of serve in each set.
Tsitsipas leads the ATP Tour Race to Turin by over 350 points over Rublev. He has a record of 10 wins to just defeat on clay in 2021.
Disgraced former Labor MP and convicted paedophile, Milton Orkopoulos, will head to trial over historical child sex charges in the Hunter in the late 1990s.
In Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday, the former Lake Macquarie Cr appeared via video link from Nowra Correctional Centre, and pleaded not guilty to 23 charges against him, relating to two alleged victims in Swansea and Belmont.
Six charges, including cause child under 14 to participate in child prostitution and sexual intercourse with a person between 10 and 16 while under his authority, were withdrawn.
Court documents revealed Orkopoulos was charged with trying to pervert the course of justice by getting an alleged victim to sign a statutory declaration retracting an allegation of sexual abuse.
Other charges he’s facing include aggravated indecent and sexual assault, commit an act of indecency with a person under 16, sexual intercourse with a person between 10 and 16 and supplying the prohibited drug cannabis.
Orkopoulos has been committed for trial in Newcastle’s District Court in June, where he will be arraigned.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Wednesday marked the 11-year anniversary of the firebomb attack on a branch of Marfin Bank in downtown Athens which led to the death of three people.
“Eleven years since the killing of Paraskevi Zoulia, Angeliki Papathanasopoulou and Epameinondas Tsakalis. Eleven years since the black day that stigmatised Greek society,” Mitsotakis tweeted.
Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, also marked the 11-year anniversary.
He tweeted an image depicting a plaque commemorating the victims installed last year at the location of the former bank branch in remembrance of the victims of what he described as a “criminal act.”
Tsakalis, 36, Zoulia, 32, Papathanasopoulou, 32, and her unborn baby died of smoke inhalation on May 5, 2010, after becoming trapped in the Stadiou Street branch of Marfin Bank that was firebombed by anti-austerity rioters who had targeted several businesses in the area.
The Athens Prosecutor’s Office recently ordered a new investigation into the firebombing following the emergence of new evidence.
Eustathios Petros Antonopolous, who goes by the stage name Anton, is becoming one of Australia’s revolutionary dance artists.
Anton’s newest performance, ‘Narcifixion’, will be performed at Riverside Theatres from 13th to 15th May and is set to showcase his longstanding contribution to the dance performing industry.
Led by performers Anton and Brianna Kell, Narcifixion is a highly detailed contemporary dance duet that examines identity in the digital age. Inspired by narcissistic behaviour epidemically prevalent across social media and people’s ever-increasing addiction to the lustrous screen, the dance of NARCIFIXIONexplores two physical characters, who are in a constant state of exhibiting and observing themselves and is set in tune to an electronic music score created by Jai Pyne.
Anton spoke with The Greek Herald ahead of Narcifixion’s premiereto dive deeper into the performance theme, what he hopes to reveal about narcissism in the modern era and how he draws influence from his Greek Australian heritage.
Artists: ANTON (left) and Brianna Kell (right) – Photographer: Jhuny-Boy Bora
Q: NARCIFIXION is a ‘dark and humorous work about narcissism’. What were your reasons for choosing this theme?
A: The concept of narcissism has a long history stretching back to ancient Greek and Roman times. Through the ages, and long before the phenomenon of digital technology and social media, many renowned artists sought to tackle the complexities of issues related to personal identity. Over the centuries, a great number of writers and psychoanalysts have dived deep in the human condition to unravel and to explain what human behaviours and inherited pathologies are ignited and wrapped up in subjectivity.
But today, there is a new level of identity analysis (read crisis) described as ‘approval conduct of oneself’. It plays out through social media as a daily event of epidemic levels as social media is arguably the most popular online activity across the globe with 3.5 billion users representing approximately 45% of the world’s total population. On average, ‘users’ (including – we’ll admit – the creative team of NARCIFIXION) spend approximately three hours per day observing and sculpting content for social media platforms. – real life (sometimes fictitious to various extents), online personas, and characters come to ‘life’ in the pursuit of creating the outward appearance of the perfect life.
“How we really live and what is imagined becomes blurred, perceptions become warped, and personal growth is compromised.”
Q: Similarly, what compelled you to create a story highlighting narcissism in the screen space?
A: “2021 is the opportune time to tackle the impactful themes of narcissism and global reliance on technology for self-moulding. How we have become so self-motivated to cultivate a perverse obsessed image distracting ourselves from meaningful connection and in making this work, we have been able to reflect on our own personal social media identities and hope that audience members will be motivated to examine their own social media practices and how they construct reflections of themselves in the virtual digital spaces.”
Q: This is your latest venture in the dance theatre area, what makes NARCIFIXION unique and special compared with your previous works?
A: NARCIFIXION uniquely intersects through the choreography virtuosic dance and physical characterisation to create an enticingly strange movement land scape that is dense, superficial at times profoundly absurd.
Q: Can you talk about your Greek background? How does it influence you in your work?
A: My fondest and most heartfelt memoires as a child growing up, are being with my beautiful yiayá who has passed. We would together Greek dance in the lounge room and listen / sing Greek music blaring in the car zipping around 1980’s Sydney. Her infectious zest of life, joy and spirituality gave me so much energy to dance and to be creative. I hold those experiences close and they influence my work today, in the way I approach quick rhythms and patterning in the choreography I make and her memory always reminds to, no matter what sort of dance I am making to celebrate and share the expression dance with generosity and delight! Thank you yiayiá for all the love you gave me!
