The Riverlights Multicultural Festival will return to The Levee in Central Maitland on Saturday October 8.
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The festival will bring together a variety of cultures in a celebration of food, music, language and dance.
Entering its fifth year, the festival remains a popular celebration of the cultural diversity of Maitland and will once again turn The Levee Shared Zone into a bright and connected global space.
Not to be missed is the riverside lantern parade and the spectacular Riverlights lantern flotilla where hundreds of colourful glowing paper lanterns are floated down the river.
- Adam Franks
The conclusion to the evening will see the Hunter River lit up with a floating lantern display for an unforgettable family experience.
Maitland City Council Events Coordinator Adam Franks says said this year’s festival will have more cultural touchstones or “villages” to experience.
“[There will be] 23 villages and approximately 30 cultures represented through a range of activities such as food tasting, performance, craft, hair braiding, henna and much more,” he said.
“Not to be missed is the riverside lantern parade and the spectacular Riverlights lantern flotilla where hundreds of colourful glowing paper lanterns are floated down the river, which will be a great end to the night.”
The popular cultural passport will again be at this year’s festival which is a great way for the kids, families and festival visitors to collect stamps to show where they’ve been.
Thehe Language Lounge, which offers an introduction to Polish, Swahili, Sudanese or one of the many other languages represented at the festival, will also return.
Leading up to this year’s event the community is invited to make their own paper lantern to be part of the flotilla at the festival with free workshops to be run at all Maitland City Library branches during the school holidays.
Workshops for the public will also be held at Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council building on September 23 and at Maitland Library on 29 September.
There will also be lantern making at the event from 3pm until 7pm.
Maitland Riverlights is a free event. Head to The Levee from 3pm on October 8 to experience culture through interactive stalls, dance, food, music and arts and experience the diversity of the four corners of the world right here in Maitland.
For information about the festival visit maitlandriverlights.com.au. For information about the lantern workshops visit maitland.nsw.gov.au/library.