Blacktown City Council - Media Release - Blacktown’s Multicultural March

Media release

01 March, 2018

Blacktown City Council is dedicating the month of March for a celebration of everything that’s multicultural in Blacktown.

Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali MP says March will be an opportunity for the city to celebrate its thriving cosmopolitan community.

“March will be dedicated to recognising and embracing Blacktown’s rich diversity.

“We are a city of 188 ethnicities where 182 languages are spoken, making us one of the most multicultural cities in Australia,” Mayor Bali said.

“It will be an opportunity for everyone to learn about the different cultures that make Blacktown City a great place to live.”

Free activities at Blacktown City Libraries and Bowman Hall include language classes in Swahili, Nepali, Filipino, Chinese and Bengali and multicultural story time sessions that explore India, Ireland, Korea and Iran.

Three major events for the multicultural festival are planned for the Max Webber Library.

On 19 March, the short film Sheltered will explore the story of a boy who experiences bullying at school while also struggling with his culture and family conventions.

The screening will be followed by a discussion session with producer Sayed Barkat Hussainizada, an Afghan Australian. Screening starts at 6 pm.

Marsden Park’s Baitul Huda Mosque will host a session titled Demistifying Islam, followed by a Q&A session with their Imam on Tuesday 6 March, starting at 6.30 pm.

On 13 March at 6.30 pm Brisbane-based writer Erwin Cabucos will talk about the short stories in the book Does it matter what the dead think?

The book addresses issues including immigration, colonial mentality and religiosity.

“The activities being held in the month of March are in addition to the plethora of Multicultural services on offer to the community,” Mayor Bali said.

“All year round our libraries offer free English conversation classes and there is an abundance of traditional resources such as books, DVDs and magazines in a number of languages.”

A full list of the month’s activities is here to te viewed