Canterbury-Bankstown Council forced to downsize ‘Ramadan Nights Lakemba’ street festival

A Sydney council has been forced to dramatically downsize Australia’s largest Ramadan street festival after a bid to secure millions in state government funding went unanswered for months.

A Sydney council has been forced to dramatically downsize Australia’s largest Ramadan street festival, which is also set to be rebranded, after a bid to secure $5.5m in state government funding went unanswered for months.

Canterbury-Bankstown Council’s massive “Ramadan Nights Lakemba” festival will no longer operate every day during the Muslim holy month.

Instead, the event will run just four nights per week under the new name of “Lakemba Nights”, with the change to be made in a bid to “uncouple” the festival’s commercial nature from its religious significance.

The street festival has become bigger than the Easter Show and lays claim to being the second-largest event in Australia behind Vivid, having attracted more than 1.57 million people this year.

About 70 per cent of attendees came from outside the city, including some from overseas.

Crowds at the festival in March 2024. Picture: Roni Bintang / Getty Images

It has grown by more than 500 per cent since 2019 and is estimated to inject about $50m into the local and state economies annually.

Speaking at a council meeting on Tuesday, councillor Harry Stavrinos described the festival as “state-significant”.

“It shouldn’t be the ratepayers footing the bill,” he said.

Osama Oreiq at the Ramadan Night Markets. Picture: Chris Pavlich

“The funding that we get from the state government is so that we’re not losing money running one of the largest events in Australia.”

A review of the festival found costs associated with its exponential growth, including the need for additional security and traffic control, had made it “unsustainable” for the council to run without additional state government funding.

The council submitted a proposal to Destination NSW, advocating for a partnership and seeking $5.5m in state funding for the next three years, in August.

However, on Tuesday, the council revealed the agency was yet to respond to the application, forcing it to move to downsize the event to save on costs.

The night markets in 2018. Picture: Damian Shaw

From 2025, the street festival will only operate from Thursday to Sunday, with trading to finish an hour earlier at 2am.

Stallholders previously required to pay $6000 upfront for the month will instead be charged $600 per night, meaning those operating each day of the downsized event will have to shell out more than they did when it ran seven days per week.

The nightly fees will include the hiring of space for a stall, access to a power generator and waste management.

A $500,000 grant from Transport for NSW, secured in September, will allow the council to provide stallholders with a “stall kit”, including a pop-up marquee.

Vendors at the Lakemba event. Picture: Chris Pavlich

Canterbury-Bankstown Council will also revise the layout of the event and designate a dedicated “precinct”, with stallholders to operate along Haldon St, and food trucks located in The Boulevard and Railway Pde.

Under the new plans, the council has proposed to remove existing traffic median islands on Haldon St in order to place stalls directly on the road, allowing up to 60 stallholders to operate.

While the word Ramadan is to be removed from the festival’s name, a council report stated the event would maintain its link with the Islamic holy month by including opportunities for public prayers and street-based Iftars.

Councillor Khodr “Karl” Saleh said the changes would not only alleviate financial pressures on the council, but they would also help address rising complaints from the local community about issues including noise and sleep disturbances.

However, councillor Barbara Coorey said the removal of the traffic medians for the month-long event could potentially put lives at risk.

“We constructed those media strips to save lives,” she said during a heated debate on Tuesday.

“Now, we’re taking them out to put stalls in the middle of a road. What happens to the other 11 months where people do illegal U-turns?”

However, during consultation, Transport for NSW did not object to the proposal to remove the traffic medians.