A mix of colours at All I Holi Fa • 1r

Celebration and co/our brings Australians and Indians together for a fun filled event

The annual All] I-Joli Fair was held o n Sund ay March 16, with fun, fe.stivities and above all, colour for alJ! Held a d ay before the ac mal date of Holi, the AIII Hol.i Fair is in its sixth year, and attracted a huge number of attendees showing up to spread the love a nd the powder!

O n e of several Holi events ar ound th e c ity in March, the AUl Holy Fair was attended by several high profi le personages including Comm iss ioner Ch.in Tan, Chai rperson of the V iccor ian Mul ticulmral Commission;

Vi ctorian La b or lead er Daniel Andrews; and Liberal Member of the Legislative Assemb ly Inga

Peulich.

The event kid,ed off at 11 :30am w i th the rimal sp reading of coloured powder, followed by a short pause while th e bolik11 bonfire was li t. Then it was back o n to more 'battles of colour ' ; Australia's own Desi D i sc Jockeys warmed the crowd u p as more musical a n d comedy acts prepared to h it the stage. Also present was Mumbai ker Sikander Khan, known for h is i.m.itatio n of the voice of Bollywood royalty Amicabb Bacbchan.

As day turned to evening, Mumbai-based singers Ab h i.nanda Sarkar and Indian Idol final.ist Yas h raaj Kap il rook to the stage. Hilarious Pa kistani comedians

Irfan Malik and Ali Hasan kept the crowds entertai n ed, w hile various government represematives spoke co the excited audie nce, and the party rocked on T hose who weren't dancing were being jolted a round on the dod gem cars or other rides , and eve r yo n e \Vas lapping up the rich variety of Indian and .international food o n offer at stalls.

Aill Chairperson Vernon

Da ~ma called the Holi event a n opportunity to "showcase Indian multicultural.ism w ithin multicul.tutal Austral.ia," something chat ,vas truly o n s how with a h.igh level of participation from non-

Indian Australians.

Speaking to Indian Liuk , J\III

Vice Chairperson Harj Yellina explained bow attendance at this annual event had be,,=n as a predominantly Indian and SrLLankan affair, but bad now grown to in cl u de Austral.ians of various ethn.ic backgrow1ds.

"If you look at the crowd, Indians have very much gelled witl1 the Aussie community as well," sa.id Yellina, adding thar the festival "is a lot of fun for new m igrants to gel w itb Ind.ian Aussies or Austral.ian Aussies they're p laying cogether - you don't see this in the restaurants or on the foory groun d"

" Th e A1II festival i s one of the largest Hol.i ce lebrations i n Australia," Stated Yellina adding, "tl1e event i s set to grow in tl1e future. It is now attracting musical, comedy and dance acts Erom Indi a, Pa kistan and the wider subcon ti n ent, as well as local artists. l pred.ict a doubling in the size of the festival"

Ail1 is Australian Indian Innovations Incorporated, a Melbo urne- based group aiming "to pro m ote, foster and empower the Indian presence in mul ticultural A u srral.ia". Holi dates bad. to p rehiscoric tirnes in the subcontinent, where it has strong links to the celebrations surrounding the cntting of the harvest in agLiculnual regions. oting that f-loli i s ac its biggest in Northern I ndia, J\Ill Executive Member Neeraj Na n da commented that the ce lebratio n s ate also enjoyed by communities ac ross the religious spectrum.