Today the ACT Government announced it has made the difficult decision to reschedule the 25th National Multicultural Festival to February 2023 following the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the ACT.
Prior to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, planning had been well underway to deliver a COVID-safe community-led event for 2022. Given the lead time it takes to deliver such a large-scale event, alongside the redeployment of staff to support the ACT's multicultural community through the COVID-19 outbreak, planning and implementing a 2022 festival ultimately became unfeasible.
Minister for Multicultural Affairs Tara Cheyne said that the decision to reschedule the Festival to 2023 allows for the delivery of a celebration on a scale the 25th anniversary deserves.
"The Festival is a much-loved, valued and anticipated community event each year and I understand that many across our city, particularly our linguistically and culturally diverse communities, will be disappointed by today's announcement.
"While the Festival will not take place next year, we are committed to supporting and celebrating our community's diversity. To do this, additional funding of $400,000 that was allocated to the Festival in the 2021-22 budget will be provided to Events ACT to support the participation of multicultural organisations in other events," said Minister Cheyne.
Australia Day and Canberra Day will be the first events to incorporate this new approach providing an opportunity for multicultural groups to showcase their culture and food.
The ACT Government will work with Canberra's culturally and linguistically diverse communities on these opportunities in the coming weeks. Multicultural community organisations interested in participating in these events can register their interest.
