Founders Heritage Park became a crossroads of the world on Sunday at the multicultural festival, with record numbers of stallholders and performances.
More than 40 cultures from across Asia, South America and Europe were represented through traditional food, cultural displays, and music and dance, with exuberant festival-goers among the vibrancy.
Hosted with flying colours by Multicultural Nelson Tasman, manager Anna Fyfe says the turnout reflected Nelson’s growing diversity, with more than 80 stallholders and 35 performances taking part.
“Our kaupapa is unity and diversity, so I think the whole festival itself shows that people want to come together and celebrate something good, regardless of their background,” she enthuses.
“There’s a lot of division in the world, a lot of things happening, but this is something nice we can do locally to make people feel good, to respect and retain cultures.”
New to the festival this year were traditional clothing workshops led by former Venezuelan refugees, delivered through an interpreter.
Anna hints that a local event celebrating Nelson’s African community is being planned by its members, and 2027 is set to mark the 30th multicultural festival in Nelson.
