Crowd of Jehovah’s Witnesses to take over Marvel Stadium for convention
After a week of door-knocking and turning Melbourne into a “hug city”, more than 50,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses will pack Marvel Stadium today. This is what happens inside the massive religious convention.
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U2 one week, religious convention the next.
Melbourne is about to become “hug city” as 50,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses take over Marvel Stadium this weekend.
It will top the best AFL crowd at Docklands this year, being 48,278 for a Essendon-North Melbourne Good Friday.
Thousands of international visitors have already arrived, combining sightseeing of Victorian tourist hot spots with door knocking activities around Melbourne.
The International Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been years in the planning, following the giant 2014 edition.
More than 70,000 people converged on Docklands five years ago, making it one of the largest crowds in the stadium’s history – just behind pop superstar Adele’s epic 2017 concert.
Convention organising chairman William Saad said people from more than 70 countries would be in town.
“One thing I noticed in 2014, and we’re starting to notice it now, is it just brings the city to life,” Mr Saad told the Herald Sun.
“You’ve got all these people with their lapel cards on them and they’re all friendly so Melbourne’s become hug central.
“People all around the city are hugging each other as they meet.”
Stadium management have barely had to lift a finger in preparation as volunteers organise everything themselves.
Almost 2000 witnesses have cleaned every inch of Marvel, even the small things like picking chewing gum off the bottom of the stadium’s 53,359 seats.
They will do it all again after the event wraps up on Sunday.
“Everyone you see here is a volunteer, no one’s getting paid for this work,” Mr Saad said.
The convention will be based around Bible instruction, with the theme of the weekend being “love never fails”.
“We live in a loveless world, people are just not expressing love so we’re being shown through the program how to show love in the family, in the community and in our congregations,” Mr Saad said.
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About 70,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses live in Australia, with almost 9 million worldwide.
The convention, which runs from Friday to Sunday and is open to the public, is expected to provide an economic boost to Victoria of more than $60 million.
“More than 6000 people have come from overseas and over 27,000 have travelled from interstate,” Melbourne Convention Bureau chief Julia Swanson said.
“It’s a massive exercise and one that Melbourne and Victoria does exceptionally well.”
The convention, combined with a number big concerts and sporting events, has ensured it’s the busiest summer in the stadium’s 20-year history.