Darwin’s beloved Greek GleNTi Festival axed
Darwin’s beloved annual Greek festival, GleNTi, has been cancelled for 2020.
Northern Territory
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The Greek GleNTi Festival has become the latest Territory event to be cancelled as a result of coronavirus.
The popular two-day event, which typically attracts up to 40,000 visitors to indulge in souvlaki, octopus and yiros and countless Greek sweets, will not go ahead this year.
The event has run for 32 years and this marks the first time it has been cancelled.
Greek Orthodox Community of North Australia president Nicholas Poniris told the NT News the decision to cancel GleNTi had been difficult but was the “right thing to do”.
“We are disappointed and it is a decision we didn’t take lightly,” he said.
“Even though it’s in June, the prospect (of) running GleNTi for 2020 didn’t make sense under the current circumstances.
“People’s health and safety is paramount to anything else.”
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In a post on Facebook, Mr Poniris said the group would instead use the year to more efficiently plan for GleNTi 2021 and a “special celebration (of) 200 years of Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire”.
Other events on the NT Greek community calendar, including Greek Easter – one of its biggest celebrations – have also been scrapped or limited.
Mr Poniris said attendance at Easter church services would be limited.
“We’re working on installing a camera inside the church to “live stream” our church services via (the) GOCNA website,” he said.
“We will inform everyone on our GOCNA FB (Facebook) pages.”
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The wreath-laying ceremony and the Greek schoolchildren’s performance on March 25 has also been cancelled.
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