The 'Punjabi Mela' street festival is back for a second run, raising funds and awareness for mental health and suicide prevention causes while bringing food and fun to Griffith's Kooyoo Street.
The festival is being organised by Griffith Real Estate to help promote mental health service Wellways after a successful debut in 2023 - and organisers are planning to make the event bigger and better for 2024.
The festival will be lighting up Kooyoo Street on Saturday, April 20, with Indian street food and plenty of entertainment to keep the night going.
Co-organiser Tony Santolin said he was motivated to start the festival to help address the high rate of suicide and self-harm in the region and support the mental health of the Riverina.
"I've always had a strong emotional feeling about suicides, especially in this area where they are quite high," he said.
"Last year was the first time we did it, we got together with the Indian community and Sikh committee, built the idea and tied it into the end of the harvest - called Vaisakhi - which coincidentally is around our grape harvest".
Nick Chauhan is the other organiser, and is currently hard at work putting the finishing touches on the festival - and has some big ideas after the success of last year's event.
"We thought we might get 200 or 300, we got around 1500 people last year," he said.
"This year, we've got a DJ from Sydney and booked a Bhangra group. We're hoping for a lot of crowd participation, people can learn how to do Bhangra on the night ... it'll be bigger and better".
Mr Santolin and Chauhan both thanked businesses that had put forth time, money and effort to help the event and encouraged other businesses to get involved if they could.
"We're looking to have night markets with local businesses. We're inviting people to dress up, really get involved - it'll be a really good night," Mr Santolin said.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please contact 000. Mental health support is also available at the following numbers:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
Accessline: 1800 800 944
(Source: The Area News)
You might also be interested in
Dec 18, 2024
How to take the heat out of housing stress and save during the spendy season
It's the club no one wants to be a part of ... but if you've bought a house recently (or alarmingly - even if you rent), it's likely you're part of a growing swell of Aussies who are in housing stress
Dec 11, 2024
Rates stay on hold and hope for February cut revived
Green shoots are appearing for mortgage holders as the Reserve Bank of Australia sees more signs inflationary pressures are easing. While keeping the cash rate on hold at 4.35 per cent on Tuesday, th