Connecting with the Greek Community
September 2004
Major community events revolve around the Greek Orthodox church calendar - Christmas is very important, as is Easter.
The Greek Orthodox church use the Œoldı (Julian) calendar to calculate Easter, while other Christian faiths use the Gregorian calendar. This means that Greek Orthodox Easter is held earlier or later than the rest of secular Australia. So Easter is normally celebrated twice by the community - a secular day for Easter eggs with mainstream Australia and a religious day for Greek with the traditional exchange of ‘red eggs’, the colour red symbolising the Blood of Christ and the egg symbolising new life.
Greek Festival - Sydney (Photo courtesy of Loud Multicultural)
Unlike many Australians, Greek people prefer not to actively work during Church holidays, using this time for family leisure-related activities such as museums, movies or visits to the zoo etc, except for Good Friday, which is a day of true religious contemplation.
The Greek community is one of Australia’s oldest cultural communities in Australia and is known for maintaining strong links with their culture through language and music. Older Greek Australians often return to their birth country on extended holidays whilst younger Greek-Australians demonstrate a strong retention of the language, many speaking Greek and spending time working and holidaying in Greece.
The Greek Festival of Sydney attracts over 150,000 people annually. The Festival held every March in Darling Harbour showcases Greek expression in the form of artists, dance, lifestyle and heritage. Celebrating its 22nd year in 2004, the popular three-week event is strongly supported by the Greek Orthodox Community and various international councils supporting Greeks living overseas. Similar Greek Festivals run in Melbourne and Adelaide every March, often with international acts from Greece touring each State.
Another annual event, is the Greek Film Festival, which touches over 8,000 1st and 2nd generation Greek Australians. The 2004 event to be held in September and is expected to feature independent and art house screenings of over 15 films with the festival’s exposure in both the Greek and mainstream media.