Pageant Of Asia To Be In Sydney Trade Fair

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30760, 26 May 1965, Page 9

Pageant Of Asia To Be In Sydney Trade Fair

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SYDNEY, May 25.

Plans for Australia’s biggest international pageant were announced yesterday by the executive director of the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Mr Stefan Haag.

He has returned to Sydney after visiting eight Asian countries with details of a “Pageant of Asia” to be held from October 19 to 30 in conjunction with the Sydney Trade Fair.

He said the pageant would include jewelled Indian elephants and tribesmen in traditional costumes, a replica of the Thailand Royal Barge, the Royal Cambodian dancers, including members of the Royal family, and a lOOft-long Chinese dragon from Hong Kong. Other attractions would be a team of tent peggers (charging lancers on horseback) from Pakistan, Ceylonese Kandi dancers, shadow puppets and displays of the art of self-defence from Malaysia, and Balinese dancers from Indonesia. Mr Haag said that 15 countries would send between 150 and 200 performers for the one hour and a half show to be run for eight nights of the fair. He would soon leave Australia again to arrange further details with Fiji, Tahiti and New Zealand.

“This is an attempt to draw Asian and South-east Asian countries closer to Australia and to show something of these countries to the Austtralian man in the street,” he said.