[On-screen text: Victorian Multicultural Festival 2025]
Hello everyone, my name is Vivienne Nguyen, Chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission.
I am here at Grazeland in the mighty west, celebrating the Victorian Multicultural Festival.
What I love most about Cultural Diversity Week, in this amazing festival, is just how well it showcases what we all love about Melbourne and Victoria.
We've got so many different cultural backgrounds in our city, and we're all here celebrating everybody's culture and diversity. It's wonderful.
This year's theme is very special. "Embrace the Journey and Shape our Future". It is about embracing each other's journey.
We all come from different walks of life, from different parts of the world. Here in Victoria we call it home, where we work together and grow together and live together.
My message to Victorians during Cultural Diversity Week is speak to your neighbour, speak to people from different parts of the world cause there's so many different cultures and ethnicities that are thriving in this great state and I think try something new and maybe cook a pho or make a kebab because that's what it's all about.
What I love about the Multicultural Festival the most I'd have to say the food because I'm a big food lover.
All the music, the performances, meeting people from all over all corners of the world.
This concept is built around food and there's over 50 traders of all different countries and that's what brings everybody together right here in the inner west of Melbourne.
And I think for me, it means embracing who we are, because I think the way we grew up the places we come from, the experience that we have, especially growing up, we can't change them.
The only thing we can do is to embrace them and help us and guide us, shape our future together as a collective.
My message to Victorians during Cultural Diversity Week is that while we have gaps and issues to address, we have much to celebrate.
[On-screen text: Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence Partners Major Partner Commonwealth Bank, Media Partner SBS, Delivery Partner Grazeland, Program Partner Think HQ Culture Verse, Promotion Partners Leba CALD Media, S&J Media Group, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, Supporting Partners LanguageLoop, LouvreElite, Foot Solutions, My Holistic Care, John Stonemart Pty Ltd and the Victorian Electoral Commission.]
[On-screen text: Victorian Multicultural Festival 21 - 23 March 2025 Embrace the Journey Shape our Future #CDW2025 #VMC Follow and tag VMC on socials @multiculturevic @victorian-multicultural-commission]
[End of transcript]
Updated