The Children’s Festival turned 21 earlier this week in a spectacular event at Paul Keating Park, Bankstown
However all the participants at yesterday’s festival were born years after the event was founded late last century by Mr Thuat Nguyen OAM, who remains its leader.
Local politicians including the Mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown, the State Member for Bankstown and the State Member for East Hills, who joined the children on stage, hailed the success of the long-running event, praised its contribution to community harmony in New South Wales and thanked Mr Nguyen for his service to the community.
“One of our slogans has always been Children are our future and yesterday we saw a whole new generation of little children whose enthusiastic participation guarantees the future of our festival and our hopes for the future of the Australian society,” Mr Nguyen said.
“I believe that the secret to our success at the Children’s Festival is constant renewal and improvement. Every year we see the tiniest children hopping up stage, enjoying themselves and charming the audience. Over the years we watch those same kids grow and develop into professional performers including as MCs. Once they’re older teenagers they can join the ranks of our volunteers who contribute so much to the smooth running of the event and learn valuable leadership skills.” (Article continues after the photo gallery)
The Children’s Festival, he said, has proved to be an excellent training ground for performing talent, apart from the continuous contribution to harmony building.
“The poster art and essay writing competition we run in conjunction with the festival give other children opportunities to develop and display their artistic talents,” Mr Nguyen said.
Singers and dancers at the 21st anniversary festival at Bankstown included performances from Chinese, Bosnian, Indonesian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Filipino, Buddhist, Nepalese, Russian, Scottish and Macedonian children who also joined the grand costume parade with Cameroonian and other ethnic groups.
The next Children’s Festival will be held on the 5 April, 2020 at First Fleet Park, Circular Quay.
For more information please visit www.childrensfestival.com.au and https://www.facebook.com/ChildrensFestivalOrganisationlnc/
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