Celebrating the unique aspects of individual cultures is the key to bringing Australia’s multicultural communities together.
Alice Springs Town Council (ASTC) has been recognised as a national leader in championing diversity and multiculturalism, being awarded the 2024 Cohesive Communities Award at the National Awards for Local Government.
The awards were handed out in July 2024 at the Australian Council of Local Government Gala Dinner in Canberra. The Cohesive Communities Award highlights local government initiatives that foster inclusion and celebrate cultural diversity and is awarded annually. ASTC was recognised for the 2023 Diwali Night Market event, celebrating culture in the heart of Alice Springs.
The Diwali Night Market was held with the support of Alice Springs Elected Members and SBS on Demand, and saw more than 2,000 residents descend on the famous Todd Mall for a night full of culture and fun, with traditional Punjab, Malayalee and Indian dance and music performances, international cuisine and craft exhibits. People from all walks of life joined in the centre of town to immerse themselves in culture for the evening, supporting the local Indian community in celebrating the important holiday.
Alice Springs Town Council CEO Andrew Wilsmore said the award was great recognition of Council’s dedication to making everyone feel welcome in the community.
“We are thrilled to receive the 2024 Cohesive Communities Award, it’s a wonderful acknowledgement for the hard work our team members put in to benefit the community,” Mr Wilsmore said.
“The Council team is dedicated to working together and fostering an environment where everyone feels valued, respected and included. Putting these events on takes a lot of hard work and collaboration but it’s absolutely worth it to see the smiles on peoples’ faces.
“We take great pride in creating moments within Alice Springs that allow the community to connect meaningfully with one another and the Diwali Night Market was a perfect example of that. Alice Springs is a wonderful and unique part of Australia where people from all cultures live in harmony. It’s incredibly meaningful to give residents the chance to show that in action and learn a little bit about a culture they may not otherwise know about.
“The Council team deserves a lot of credit for the work they have put in and I also want to thank all community members that voted for Council through this process. Most importantly I also want to thank everyone that came out to the Diwali Night Markets to help make it an incredible event.”
What is Diwali?
Also known as the Festival of Lights, Deepavali, Thar, Bandi Chhor and Tihar, Diwali is one of the biggest and most important holidays of the calendar year. The festival lasts for five days, celebrating the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness and is incredibly important in many cultures. While the exact dates for Diwali change each year, usually falling between October and November, Diwali is one of the most celebrated times of the year with households revelling across the world with special meals and fireworks displays.
Diwali also sees people decorate their homes with colourful Rangoli designs and lights, often dressing in bright colours and dancing. With light being a primary focus of the festival, a big fireworks display was central to the Alice Springs Diwali Night Market, giving people of all cultural backgrounds the opportunity to celebrate together.
Celebrating multiculturalism
Alice Springs has a rich history of multiculturalism that dates back many years. The traditional owners of the land in and around Alice Springs are the Central and Eastern Arrernte people who have lived in the area for tens of thousands of years. A strong Aboriginal presence and history remains in the town to this day, with culture intertwined in the landscape and everyday life.
There is also a strong multicultural presence throughout the Alice Springs community dating back to Afghan cameleers in the late 1800s. Now home to people from all corners of the globe, with one third of all Alice Springs residents born overseas, ASTC adopted a new Multicultural Action Plan in 2023 to promote cultural diversity and social cohesion. This included the introduction of a new role within Council of Community Inclusion Officer, held by Abby McCrickard. Ms McCrickard played a vital role in organising the Diwali Night Market, saying it was a rewarding way of giving back to the community.
“During the consultation phase of Council’s Multicultural Action Plan 2023-2026 we found there was a great desire for cultural celebrations for our diverse community, with 32.9 per cent of residents being born overseas,” she said.
“With India being the most common country of birth other than Australia, sitting at 3.7 per cent, it was clear that a Diwali event would be embraced by the whole community. The best part of the event was seeing people who had never heard of Diwali learn about the celebration and being told how thrilled people felt seeing their country of birth celebration be held in their Australian home.
“I was so proud that Elected Members and Council supported us to throw this event and it is a great demonstration of Alice Springs’ strong community spirit,” Ms McCrickard said.
Positive impacts
While ASTC is proud to be recognised for championing diversity and inclusion, the biggest reward is seeing the positive impact the Diwali Night Market had on the local Indian community.
Gagandeep Singh Ralh is a local member of the Indian-Punjab community in Alice Springs, and said it was meaningful to see his culture represented and celebrated in his adopted home town.
“I’m so happy that ASTC won the Local Government National Cohesive Community Award for 2024 for the Diwali Night Market Initiative. The Diwali Night Market was a great event that brought people together and celebrated our diverse talents and cultures,” he said.
“As a member of the Indian-Punjabi community, I did my best to support ASTC for this event’s success. Our Bhangra dance group, Outback Bhangra Crew, performed at the event, and it was a wonderful experience that made a big difference to our community.”
Attention has now turned to the 2024 edition of the event with preparations well underway. After the success of last year’s iteration, Ms McCrickard believes it’s important to continue the momentum in 2024.
“We saw last year how much an event like this can mean to the community, and that’s incredibly rewarding. It also means there’s an opportunity to build on it and make it an even bigger celebration this year,” she said.
Featured image: The community gathered to celebrate Diwali. Image credit: Alice Springs Town Council.
