Celebrations have already begun for this year's Cultural Diversity Week.
Held from 21- 29 March, CFA will celebrate the multiple cultures in our community. The theme for this year's celebration is 'Curiosity. Conversation. Community.'
Coordinated by the Victorian Multicultural Commission, the celebration coincides with the United Nations Day for the elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March. Australia's Harmony Day is also celebrated on 21 March with its ongoing theme 'everyone belongs'.
As part of the celebrations the Victorian Multicultural Commission hosts the Multicultural Festival at Queen Victoria Market on Sunday 29 March. There will also be many other multicultural events in Victoria including:
- 14 March - Two Worlds Festival: a celebration and coming together of Indigenous and Western culture. Music, dancing, art, food, and culture will all be part of the festival, sharing knowledge and bridging the gap.
- 20 March - Living traditions Festival: A vibrant community festival to celebrate cultures and traditions in the inner North West of Melbourne.
- 21 March - Spirit Harmony Multicultural Festival Australia 2020: family-friendly one day event involving Indian multicultural artists, food and conversation.
- 22 March - Laneway Festival and Market: A mix of world music, latin dancing, global food, craft and design and much more.
Carlsruhe Fire Brigade members has already started celebrations along with their local Hindi group. On 1 March the brigade was invited to attend the Hindi group's Holi Festival, the festival of colours.
They celebrated their Holi month which involves dancing, eating, traditional dress and being covered in brightly coloured chalk. Lieutenant Jason Pearce accepted Victoria Arya Samaj's bushfire donation on behalf of Carlsruhe brigade, a donation that was raised by the event.
Brigade Secretary Michelle Jakovac also attended the event.
"Being a part of such a special and colourful day, enjoying another culture's traditions and meeting our neighbours makes everything that we do in the brigade for our community even more important," Michelle said.
CFA will be acknowledging and celebrating our cultural diversity through a number of News and Media stories in line with the theme of 'Curiosity. Conversation. Community.'
CFA encourages brigades to contact their local council to tap into events being held during the week or brigades can host their own Cultural Diversity Week event.