Celtic festival ditched from harbourside park on Australia Day by North Sydney Council
A LONG-RUNNING Celtic festival will be replaced with a Great Aussie BBQ at a harbourside park on Australia Day because North Sydney Council says it wants a more multicultural event.
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A LONG-RUNNING Celtic festival has been dumped in favour of a “multicultural” event on Australia Day.
Celtic dance and music has filled Bradfield Park for almost a decade, attracting crowds to the popular park every year.
But North Sydney Council has told the organisers they are not welcome at the prime harbourside spot on Australia Day as it is planning its own Great Aussie BBQ event instead.
“Purely Celtic programming of Australia Day events does not reflect North Sydney’s diverse community which has significant proportions of people with Chinese, German, Italian, Indian and Japanese ancestry,” a council report said.
The Celtic Council of Australia and the Highland Dancers were behind the festivities, which included a Welsh choir, pipe band, singers and Tibetan monks this year.
They have been offered Bradfield Park on a different date or the use of another park on Australia Day.
The decision has left the Celtic Council “saddened and let down”.
“Suddenly we are not multicultural enough,” said festival organiser Mal Nicolson. “It is very disappointing.”
He added that food on the day included a barbecue alongside Turkish and Dutch options.
North Sydney Council said that the “multicultural BBQ” was chosen to reflect the Australian tradition of holding a barbecue on Australia Day.
The Australia Day Council of NSW told the Mosman Daily that it was not part of the decision to stop the Celtic festivities and was simply advised of the changes.
Celtic culture has strong roots in the North Sydney community. More than one in five residents have either Scottish or Irish ancestry.
The Mosman Daily could not reach the Highland Dancers for comment.
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