Pako Festa has a fantastic 40th

THE Pako Festa relocated to a new location on Saturday to celebrate its 40th birthday but had plenty of the usual highlights of colour, song, food and community fun.

The annual event this year moved from Pakington Street in Geelong West to the Northern Community Hub in Norlane but still included the usual food stalls, a celebration of diverse cultures, entertainment galore and a new twist on the traditional parade with a costume catwalk.

Pako Festa event director Lou LaFornara said about 6,000 people visited the hub over the course of the day.

“It was amazing. It was absolutely beautiful. We were blessed with the weather.

“We maintained that beautiful celebration of diversity in a harmonious way, and all the groups did really well.

“From some of the comments coming through, people said the atmosphere felt a lot safer and even more family-friendly, which was a really beautiful comment.

“Let’s be honest, it’s a major fundraiser for all those diverse communities, and they all sold out – wow!

“Planning over the past two years has obviously been really difficult, but because it was our 40th year, we wanted to throw a party and celebrate.”

She said Pako Festa should be proud of achieving the four-decade milestone, especially as the event was so community-driven.

“It’s really important that we can continue to celebrate that diversity together.

“The visual of people with their costumes walking around – it’s about really celebrating that in a safe space.”

She said the Pako Festa celebrations for 2022 were not yet over, with the Market Square photo exhibition on until March 18, and a timeline showing each year of Pako Festa over the past 40 years to be progressively updated on the festival’s website over the next three months.