International Street Fiesta set to transform Queens Park
A celebration of community, belonging and culture, an International Street Fiesta is coming to Queens Park this month. . . and we can taste the chicken adobo already.
Published: 06 October 2023
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Just as it feels like the Carnival of Flowers has come to a close (ok, this year might be getting away from us a little) October warms up with a celebration of community, belonging and culture as the International Street Fiesta transforms Queens Park into laneways bustling with roving performers and aromas from enticing food and market stalls on October 28.
Formally known as the Toowoomba Languages and Cultures Festival, the Festival returns in 2023, reinvented into an immersion of sounds and musical and dance performances, a wide selection of international food, markets and a burst of colour and flavour.
Toowoomba International Multicultural Society (TIMS) President and Fiesta organising committee chair Gitie House said the fiesta was a great way of celebrating the incredible richness of different cultures and promoting an understanding between cultural communities.
Toowoomba is an incredibly diverse city, it’s this melting pot of so many different cultures and countries and backgrounds and it’s part of what makes it so unique and special. Some 59% of Toowoombians (we may just be making up new words here!?) come from diverse ancestral backgrounds, and almost 10% of the population have immigrated from other countries, and what better way to celebrate that richness of community than with a fiesta that showcases who we are together.
“It is important that people from different backgrounds or who are new to the region have the chance to express their cultural heritage and tell their unique stories through their dances, songs and food,” Mrs House said.
Starting at 3pm and ending at 8pm (with a fireworks show at 7.45pm, the festival aims to celebrate the region’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and will be free to enter. The 2022 festival included performances from African Fusion drummers and dancers, Colombian dancers, Taiko drummers, European folk performers, Scottish Bagpipes, the Crows Nest Boot Scooters, and a special Diwali celebration and lantern display, with 2023 promising to be just as vibrant and exciting.
For the more information about the event or how to get involved, click here.
