Church welcomes all religions and cultures at Festival of Diversity
An estimated 4000 people will attend the first diversity festival hosted by St Charbel’s Church in Punchbowl on Saturday.
Our city’s multiculturalism was celebrated at the first diversity festival hosted by St Charbel’s Church, Punchbowl, on Saturday.
Over a thousand people from many nationalities attended the festival, which is the brainchild of Rev Fr Louis Ferkh, Superior of St Charbel’s Mission.
Wally Mehana, the chairman of the Canterbury Bankstown Chamber of Commerce and a member of the organising committee, said they are already thinking of next year’s event.
“Fr Louis has planted the seeds and like everything else, we can only nurture it and take it to the next level,” he said.
“The focus was to bring the community together and celebrate our different cultures while being proud of whom we are and being grateful to God that we are in a lucky country.”
Fr Louis Ferkh said newly-settled migrants, who have come from countries that are in a state of unrest were coming to pray, “and we had the idea to create an event to introduce them to all the cultures in our area”.
“We hope that this event will promote acceptance between all cultures, regardless of their religion or country of origin, and allow each culture to be proud of their heritage,” he said.
The festival was attended by Immigration Minister David Coleman, NSW Multiculturalism Minister John Sidoti, President of the NSW Legislative Council John Ajaka, Lakemba MP Jihad Dib, East Hills MP Wendy Lindsay, Hornsby Mayor Philip Ruddock, and representatives from Bankstown Police, councillors George Zakhia, Bilal El Hayek, Rachel Harika and Nadia Saleh and a number of community and other local organisation leaders.
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There were food stalls, entertainment, competitions and raffles.
Performers includes a Cook Island cultural dance by 15 Stars Performing Arts, a traditional Chinese dance by CASS Hua Xing Activity Group and an ancient Arabic musical performance by Bedouin Ensemble.
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