MAHJONG tables, taichi exercises and food vans dishing out Asian street food are set to feature at next year’s Chinese New Year Festival in Bunbury.
Plans to host the festival, which is celebrated in February each year, was announced to gauge community interest and support at a luncheon hosted by the Bunbury Sister and Friendship Cities community group.
More than 25 members of the community including locals with Chinese heritage, Chinese immigrants and local businessmen met at the Friendship Chinese Restaurant in Bunbury yesterday.
Local Amanda Yip who is spearheading the event in conjunction with the Bunbury Multicultural Group, shared her Hungarian-Chinese heritage to the group and her desire to kick start a cultural exchange in the community.
Ms Yip, whose father hails from Singapore, said her parents were one of the first multicultural couples to pop up in Bunbury and their integration into the community was smooth.
Rallying support from the community and calling for sponsorship for the event, Ms Yip said she intends to showcase Chinese art, music, traditional dance and food to boost multiculturalism and integration.
“I think it will be a great platform for the Chinese community to get involved in the community,” she said.
“We’ve also looked at conducting workshops at the local art gallery to showcase Chinese popular culture such as calligraphy, kite or lantern making.
“Bunbury has been very good to us so it will be nice to give back to the community.
"We're going to start small but I think there is great scope and huge potential to grow."
City of Bunbury’s Senior Officer for International Relations Carol McDowall said the turnout to the luncheon and positive response to the festival was a pre-cursor for great things to come.
"This was a great opportunity for like-minded people to meet, share ideas and their interest in Chinese culture, trade, sport, tourism and education."
The Bunbury Sister and Friendship Cities is a community group committed to establishing and maintaining relationships with Bunbury’s sister cities; Setagaya - Japan, Jiaxing - China and Nha Trang - Vietnam.
