CELEBRATIONS IN AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22198, 15 September 1937, Page 14

CELEBRATIONS IN AUSTRALIA

♦ 150 TH ANNIVERSARY CARNIVAL PROGRAMME FOR NEXT YEAR The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebrations of the settlement of Australia will be held in Sydney next year from January 26 to April 25. Appropriately, the celebrations programme will begin and end on the two most important dates in Australian history—January 26, when colourful pageantry will re-enact the arrival of Captain Phillip at Sydney Cove on that date in 1738 to establish the first permanent white settlement in Australia; and April 25, Anzac Day. when a combined naval, military, and air force tattoo will commemorate the anniversary of Australia's entry into the Great War. , , „ , Of the special events for the celebrations vear. the most outstanding will be the British Empire Games, which will be held in the southern hemisphere for the,first time. Representative teams from all parts of the Empire will compete in track and field events, boxing, wrestling, cycling, and bowling—a sporting carnival that will extend from February 5 to 12. International players will also compete with the best Australian teams in tennis, golf, cricket, and swimming. Rifle shooting will be another feature, the National Rifle Club offering £IO,OOO in prize money for its anniversary meeting—the greatest sum ever offered for competition among riflemen. Australia and New Zealand's finest thoroughbreds will be seen in action at the autumn racing carnival, during April, the programme including the Sydney Cup. the Doncaster Handicap, and other important events. Spectacular surf carnivals will be held on the beaches at the week-ends. The Sydney Royal Agricultural Show, extending from April 9 to 23, and already acknowledged to be the leading all-round agricultural display in the world, will be combined with an all-Australian Exhibition. Consequently, a comprehensive display of the products of Australia's primary and secondary industries will be presented as part of the one event, while a continuous series of unusually interesting arena events will include thrilling feats of horsemanship by the finest riders in Australia. Combined with the historical pageantry for the opening of the carnival on January 26 will be an anniversary regatta on Sydney Harbour, with inter-state championships being contested by all classes of vessels. Three days later a Venetian carnival, with the craft of the yachting clubs and the ships of the Australian Navy taking part, will be staged in the romantic setting of the harbour by night. Plans are also well advanced for agricultural shows, picnic race meetings, and other events in country areas; for musical festivals, band championships, and reviews and pageants by the defence forces; for conferences and conventions to which delegates will come from all parts of Australia and from many overseas countries; and-, generally,, for a programme that will be continuous throughout the celebrations period, and that will provide features sufficiently diversified to appeal to everyone.