Thousands Attend Multicultural Festival

Dancing, drumming and dramatic displays were all part of the atmosphere at the Southland Multicultural Festival on Saturday.

Thousands of people packed out ILT Stadium Southland for the 13th annual event, which represented 33 nations.

Southland Multicultural Trust president Neil Rumble said the event was “a massive one,” and also included 41 different food stalls.

“There was food for everybody,” he said.

Held on Race Relations Day, in conjunction with other events around the country, Neil said it was a beautiful atmosphere and a lot work went on behind the scenes to make it happen.

With six Japanese grandchildren himself, Neil also had a lot to do with migrant families in Invercargill, and said they were fantastic people who loved to celebrate.

The multicultural trust held workshops, meet and greet events and language classes that were open to everyone in the community.

“What’s On Invers founder Mike Sanford expressed his delight at the sight of a large number of people arriving after the first live stream to the What’s On Invers Facebook page. One of the organisers was heard asking, ‘Where did all the people come from?’ The event got pretty packed at one point, with people grabbing their food and heading out. It was a great experience to witness the event’s success and the enthusiasm of the attendees.”