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The festival thisyearhad ingredientsgalore, but lacked the right blend ofspices

BY RAKA SARKHEL

After laying low last year, Parramasala,vas celebratedin the monthof 'Multicultural rvlarch'at Prince AlfredSquare andtheParramarta River Foreshoreon 10-12March.

The festval,wbich aimsto share a slice ofthewhole culmra1melting pottbatis WesternSydney,evokesalotofinterest amongsttberegion's communities and hyphenatedidentities.i\fany of thesewere visibleintheOpeningNight Paradethat startedofffromCentenarySquareand filled Church Street,the mainarteryof Parrarnatta,with a wholelot of colourand chutzpah.

The paradesaw participation fromover 30 communitiesin their traditional attire - Armeniansin their arkhaluks,Chinesei11 their beautifulsilk dressesand exquisite handfans,andBalinese childrenin intricate animalmasksdepictingtheirheritageand culture. TheIodians camewithtbeir dholaks and kartalas(clash-cymbals),theBrazilians with thefr Sambaand t§embesandvarious dancetroupes bearingproudly theHagof theirtraditions and culmres.

Cheering theparadeloudlywerepassersbyandpedestrianson kerbsand foot-paths, regulars our fora Friday night at their favouritepubs and cafes andraisinga toast as d1eir c01nn1w1itiesstrutted d1rough in ail rl1eir traditional finery.

PrinceAlfredSquare,the mainvenue forthefestival and a cornerstone for tbe suburb,wasdeckedwith festoon and fafry lighting;music and danceperformanceslit up rl1e stage, camel and Ferriswheelrides broughtusbackcoour childhood,and rl1ewhiffof many Aavourswhettedour appetites.

Henna and face-painri.ogstalls,andthe Adorned Headdressworkshops serthepace in themotnu1g withBobbySinghdelivering themorningragas.PakistanitruckartistRiaz RafipaintedeJ,oticmotifsandpatternson avanat rl1emiddleof rbesquare,akathakflamenco fusiongraced thedancestage, VietnameseartistMaiKhoifilledtheair withhermelodioustunes.

Bengali choir Protiteesang from Tagore, Salil Chowdhury and Nazrul. LeelaSan1son,internationally acclaimed Bharatnacyamdancer (andalso''Aunty" &om OKadhaiKa11111a11iandits Bollywood remake OK]atl!111) broughther group Spandato Australiaforcbe6rsr time.

The River Foreshorehad a rangeof aboriginal workshops andperformances, including ochre tree painting,weaving, puppetry and story-telling.

Such wasthegamut andrangeof performances.

The mostpopular crowd-puller was Indo-Balineseversion of Ramayana-the Lordof theRing,feamring50localand international artists,20Gammelanand Sourl1 Indian classicalmusicians, 30 Kecak, Bharatnacyam and Indonesian dancers, depicting astory integraltoboth Bali and India.

ThePa.rramasalapantry at theRiverside courtyard sentdelicateandfragrantwhiffs of spicesintheair enricing uswith all the magic rlrntwasbeing cookedin there.The live cooking demos saw Nilgiris chefAjoy Joshi to a completely-packed Pakistani demobyFurqanLodJii.Therewere samplesof Jamaican,Croatian andother cuisinesondisplayaswell.

Although the cuisinesand cultureswei:e many,nor allthevarious andmultifarious communities from thesuburbs ofWestern Sydney were represented equally,wbich posed a problem forpatronswho came lookingfor sometliing andgotsomerl1ing elsein rerurn.Thiswasreceivedattimes with a sense ofnew discovery anda 'let's seewhat'sin store'artirude,and attimeswith mild dissatisfactionand disappointment.

Peopleexpect more from Parramasala as it isSydney'sonly festival wirh anambitionof such scaletrying ro represent somany culrures, and it does haveallilienecessaryingredientsin termsof venue,interestfrompatrons andartist collaborations.Yetwhat ic lacks is theright amount of spice,and a morefocused approach.