Amid a roving cacophony of drums, gongs, bagpipes, trumpets and even a percussive pair of spatulas, Canberra's multicultural heart was on display as it paraded through the city centre on Saturday afternoon.
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Troupes representing countries and groups from all over the world brought national dress and instruments to be heard right through the procession.
For nearly a quarter of a century, Canberra's Multicultural Festival has each year shown off the flavours, sights and sounds from around the world.
But the presence of Canberra's Chinese community was greatly diminished, with many performers stuck in China as the travel ban designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus continues.
The president of the Australia-China Youth Cooperation group, Robert Johnson, said it had been a hard start to 2020 for his community.
The group was collecting messages of support for people in Wuhan on a nine-metre banner, with notes written in dozens of languages.
Mr Johnson said after the China stage was cancelled, his group hoped to show festival attendees Canberra's Chinese community was staying strong.
"I think as Canberra society, we're doing very well. We don't have one single confirmed case of that coronavirus. We hope that we can keep it up," Mr Johnson said.
"Another thing is that our community, it's very supportive and very understanding to the Chinese community. And I hope we extend this to our Chinese international students who are returning to Canberra after this travel ban has lifted."
He said the Multicultural Festival was a good display of the wider community's inclusive spirit, but it was not limited to one weekend. "It's all year around," he said.
Nim Osborne, who led the parade contingent of the Thai Media and Cultural Association, said the parade seemed bigger this year and participation had increased.
Ms Osborne, who has been volunteering at the festival for more than 20 years, said it was an important opportunity to bring people from many different backgrounds together.
"I feel to get them together like this, it makes them closer, bonding them to each other. We're making new friends. We make them feel they're a part of the multicultural programs, even whatever happens in the world," Ms Osborne said.
She praised hard-working stall holders and the groups collecting donations for bushfire recovery programs.
"The volunteers are magnificent. Each year I can see a number of new faces. That's showing you people put their hands together and that's just a great thing," she said.
"This three day event, I've been involved in it for a long time. As soon as we've finished, we set up the new one for the next year."
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More than 200,000 people are expected to visit the festival over its three-day run.
The festival, which is considered a high risk event for food safety, sees a heavy presence of ACT Health Protection Services officials, who will report on breach instances after the festival.
"At this time, no concerns about food safety at the festival have been reported to ACT Health. ... All food safety complaints are investigated by our public health officers," an ACT Health spokeswoman said on Saturday afternoon.
She said breaches that presented a risk to public safety would be reported publicly immediately.
The festival concludes at 4pm on Sunday.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
