Sharing all our culture, customs and cuisine

Press, 8 February 1985, Page 12

Sharing all our culture, customs and cuisine

The early Christchurch settlers may have been English, but the city population today consists of many dozens of different nationalities.

So many, in fact, that some people are unaware not only of the presence of different races and cultural backgrounds, but also of the colourfuL costumes, customs and foods that each culture has brought with it. The grand finale to the Summer Times programme, Europa International Day, to be held this Sunday in Hagley Park, will provide, an opportunity for such ethnic groups to show their cultural heritage in crafts, art, music and dance.

Christchurch people will also be able to literally get a taste of other national foods as many of the stalls booked for the day include national cooking. The food stalls available in the park will be run by groups such as the Viet-

namese, Scandinavian, Tongan, Cambodian, Lebanese, Thai, Canterbury Chinese and Greek societies and the Hare Krishna Movement.

A huge hangi using three muttons put down by Te Kotahi Tanga Maori Club will be lifted during the afternoon.

Starting from 11 a.m., there will be plenty of static displays for crowds to browse around, including a diverse mixture such as ones by Trade Aid, The Environmental Centre and Peace Forum, the Goethe Society, Baha’i Faith, Amnesty International, Corso, Save Animals From Experiments, Anti-Vivisection, The Health Alternatives for Women, and the AntiiNuclear Society. No celebration of national culture would be complete without music and dancing, and Sunday will be no exception.

On the main stage, performances will begin at 11 a.m. with the music group, Out of Order. In keeping with the international flavour of the day,

performers such as Orpheus from the Mykonos restaurant, an Austrian choir, a Dutch choir, Pachamama (from South America) and a Maori dance group organised by Te Kotahi Tanga Maori Club will provide characteristic entertainment, along with more familiar groups such as Alter Ego and Horizon.

National dancing displays will have a mixture of wellknown and unfamiliar dances. There are the old favourites, such as Highland, Scottish, and Irish dancing, mixed in with belly dancing, items from an accordian band, Natural Magic, the Vietnamese Society and the Human Jukebox. Members of the Canterbury Sky-diving Club will drop in at 1.30 p.m. and

there will be demonstrations of Tai Chi, Karate, and Tai Kwondo.

Appropriately for Europa International Day, members of Christchurch Rotary International clubs will be supplying the manpower for the day, and the master of ceremonies, Oily Ohlson, will greet the crowd in as many different languages as time, and tongue, permits.