Grand Ganesh Festival Returns to Ballarat

A WEEKEND-long festival celebrating Hindu culture is returning for the third year in a row.

The Ballarat Hindu Temple and Cultural Centre’s free Grand Ganesh Festival will take place from tomorrow until Sunday, with a range of activities on offer.

“There’ll be a lot of engagement activities like rides, face painting, henna tattooing, singing, dancing, and cultural performances,” said BHTCC media officer Sri Iyer.

“We’ll have all-day sweets distribution, and free meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’ll definitely be a festival for everyone.”

Being run out of Ballarat High School, the event will kick off from 7am on Saturday morning with a fireworks display to feature later at 9pm.

The event has been preceded with two weeks of cultural programs with attendees participating in activities like badminton and chess, as well as drawing and Ganesh idol making.

The festival’s signature Ganesh idol, submerged at Lake Wendouree on the Sunday, has this year been created by the Hindu community’s younger demographic.

BHTCC president Pradush Narayanan said the event is about showcasing Hindu culture in regional Victoria.

“To have a festival like this, people would have had to come to Melbourne,” he said. “Now it’s not like that.

“People from all over regional Victoria like Castlemaine, Bendigo, Ararat have been coming here each year.

“Multiculturalism has grown, not just in Ballarat but Australia. When people move here, they’re often missing these types of big celebrations from back home. We don’t want that to happen.”

Last year’s event saw about 7000 attendees, the same as its debut, and Mr Narayanan said he expects similar numbers this weekend.

For program details, visit BHTCC’s website.