Traditional Australia Day activities to be staged again after Covid-related hiatus
After a couple of years of being on the shelf due to Covid restrictions, activities like the Australia Day passenger ferry race will resume this year.
NSW
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Longstanding Australia Day traditions hobbled by Covid are set to make a triumphant return in 2022, the NSW government and Australia Day Council of NSW has announced.
Sydney Harbour and the foreshore will be a hive of activity on January 26 with a number of activities returning after a forced hiatus including the Harbour Parade, the Ferrython boat race, the Tall Ships Race and an aerial display by the Defence Force.
The Sydney program will also include Australia Day Live at the Sydney Opera House forecourt, with musical stars playing on the day as well as fireworks and a maritime show lighting up Circular Quay.
The iconic sails of the Opera House will light up with an array of Aussie images, after a morning starting with a moment of reflection at dawn and an illumination on the sails of Indigenous artwork, coinciding with the Australian and Australian Aboriginal flags being raised on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said he looked forward to attending the events.
“Australia Day is a time for inclusion, understanding and reconciliation. We respect the contributions of all Australians and we celebrate our combined achievements by coming together and reconnecting with family, friends, and the community. It is through storytelling that we continue to stay connected,” Mr Perrottet said. The day will also start with the WugulOra Morning Ceremony at Barangaroo.
This will recognise the importance of the world’s oldest continual living culture in a ceremony of cleansing, storytelling and connecting with First Nations people, with Australia Day Council of NSW Chair Andrew Parker saying the day would tell the stories of everyone “from First Nations people who have lived here for 65,000 years to new citizens”.
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