The many and varied languages of Melbourne’s west will be celebrated at the annual Language In Community Festival next month.
Held at Footscray’s Seelaf Square on Saturday, December 7, the festival will be hosted by Iranian/Australian podcaster and artist Kate Robinson and feature performances and activities showcasing of the west’s community languages: Hazara, Amharic, Vietnamese, Greek, Tagalog, Tamil, Hindi and more.
Among those taking the stage will be dance group Jollity Bollywood performing a variety of Indian dance forms including bollywood, bolly hop, folk and bharatntyam.
Ghanaian musicians Nii Otu Laryea and Kofi Nortey, along with West African and Afro Cuban drummer Ray Pereira will share a performance of ‘talking drums’ while parents and children from Cherry Crescent Preschool will get everyone singing in Vietnamese.
Multilingual Storytellers Rohini Vij, Anna Manuel, Dee Palanisamy and Priti Modyiyer will captivate everyone with an interactive storytime and the popular Karaoke Storytime will be back and all are welcome to join in.
Workshops will include flag making with Sonia Zymantas,collage and storytelling with Viet-My Bui and parents can learn more about community language education in presentations by Associate Professor Julie Choi, Amharic Saturday School teacher Tenenet Taye, and French studies lecturer Dr Tess Do.
The festival is organised by Maribyrnong based Vietnamese language education not-for-profit, ViệtSpeak.
ViệtSpeak representative Hoang Tran Nguyen said the festival celebrates language as a vital part of the fabric of everyday life.
“In society, language binds communities together,” Mr Nguyen said.
“However, if taken for granted, language loss can occur within one generation for many migrant-settler groups. Celebrating the multilingual realities in our homes and communities will ensure intergenerational knowledge and nurture relationships with the people around us.”
The Language in Community Festival runs from 11am to 3pm on Saturday December 7.
