Modern Indian food, music, art and film will bring added spice to another Indian obsession – cricket – as part of a free three-day festival coinciding with the Australia vs India Boxing Day Test.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren today launched the upcoming Indian Summer Festival in partnership with Cricket Australia.
The festival at Yarra Park, outside the iconic MCG, will celebrate the best of modern India through a jam-packed program of live music, street art, dance, cinema, food and cricket.
Highlights include performances by Indian Australian hip hop artists, singers and musicians, authentic Indian cuisine from a range of food stalls, art direct from the streets of India and an open-air cinema.
Victorians will also be able to bat, bowl and field on a miniature Azad Maidan free play cricket pitch, styled after the famous Mumbai cricket ground, and enjoy the spectacle of an exhibition kabaddi match.
The Indian Summer Festival begins on December 23 with the family fun day – an opportunity for fans to meet players from both the Australian and Indian men’s cricket teams.
The festival supports Victoria’s India Strategy, launched in January, by showcasing Victoria as a world-class destination for sports, tourism and culture, and as a welcoming business and trade partner.
Victoria is home to around 169,000 India-born people and remains an attractive destination for students from India choosing to study in the state, with more than 40,000 enrolments in 2017.
The three-day festival is free and open to all members of the public. The full Indian Summer Festival line-up will be announced in the coming months.
