Canberra's city centre has been transformed into a hive of sound, colour, flavours, and movement for the 23rd annual National Multicultural Festival.
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The festivities began on Friday evening with the event's official opening at 7pm, before ARIA-nominated headliner Christine Anu took to the main stage in Garema Place.
But Minister for Multicultural Services Chris Steel promises there'll be a lot more on Saturday and Sunday to entertain and tickle the tastebuds of the more than 200,000 people who are expected to attend.
"We've got some incredible headline acts this year that include ... [Australia's 2017 Eurovision Song Contest] singer Isaiah Firebrace, and Mark Olive, an Indigenous chef who will be using some native ingredients in some cooking demonstrations on Saturday," Minister Steel said.
Saturday will be the busiest day of festival entertainment, with stalls opening and performances starting at 10am. Mark Olive is set to talk bush foods in Garema Place at 11am and 1pm. The kids will get their turn later when he visits Civic Library as part of the children's sanctuary program between 3.10pm and 3.30pm.
Kids in the program will be doing everything from making Indigenous-inspired art, to learning to drum, and constructing miniature cities.
The festival's highly anticipated parade begins on Saturday at 4pm at the corner of Bunda and Akuna Street near Glebe Park, and will continue along London Circuit before making its way right into Garema Place.
Singer from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Amira Medunjanin, is a performer not to be missed, organisers say. She'll take to the Garema Place stage with Ante Gelo at 6.20pm.
Isaiah Firebrace will perform two shows later on Saturday evening. The first starts at 7.30pm on Stage 2 at Bunda Street, and the second will be on the Garema Place stage at 9.30pm.
"[The festival has] over 300 stalls, 140 food and drink stalls, and over 150 performers across three days, supported by 2000 people," Minister Steel said.
Saturday's festivities will continue through to 12am, before they start up again on Sunday morning. Sunday will be a little more low-key, with everything wrapping up at about 5pm. An eating competition involving Greek fried-dough pastries or "loukoumathes", in Garema Place at 3.40pm, seems like an event not to miss.
People travelling to and from the festival are advised to take public transport instead of driving, and take advantage of the additional 200 and 300 rapid bus services on Saturday and Sunday. Regular fares apply.
A special late night rapid bus service will depart from the City Bus Station every 20 minutes until 2am on Saturday.
Road closures will persist through most of the weekend, with London Circuit and Bunda Street blocked off in both directions until 6am Monday.
Ainslie Place, at the intersection with Riverside Lane, along with two car parks at the rear and opposite of Baileys Corner, are also going to be closed until the start of the working week.
Akuna Street, from Bunda Street to the London Circuit, will be closed for two hours from 4pm on Saturday for the festival's parade.
ACT Policing has issued a reminder to the community that they will have a presence at this year's Multicultural Festival, and are there to help if need be.
“The ACT is an incredibly diverse community, and unfortunately some people can have, for whatever reason, negative perceptions of police,” Station Sergeant Pedro Martinez said.
View the complete program for the National Multicultural Festival here.
With Jasper Lindell
