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Christchurch City Scene
June 2001

Multi-cultural festival success



Three women with Macedonia backgrounds at the festival.

Four lads from four different cultures.
An Egyptian belly dancer to a Maori haka group . . . these were just two cultural activities seen at the third Multi-Cultural Festival held in Linwood in March.

It featured static displays, dancing, clowns, food stalls, drama, poetry, music from around the world and a hangi.

It was held over four hours at the Linwood Community Arts Centre at the Stanmore Road-Worcester Street corner and spilled into the adjacent Doris Lusk Reserve.

The Te Whare Roimata and local people-run festival was a bigger success than in previous years. About 500 people celebrated the cultural diversity of the neighbourhood while having fun.

Some nationalities represented were Chinese, Dutch, English, Indian, Somalian, Maori, Macedonian and Welsh. There was a great mixing of races, says co-ordinator Johanka Geurtjens.

"For example, the musician from the Solomon Island did a kind of haka with a group of people, one of them being a Dutch girl wearing traditional costume and clogs," she said.

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