multicultural festival October 2004
By admin • Apr 19th, 2008 • Category: archive“Buddies” at Multicultural Festival, Brisbane, 10th October ‘04
On Sunday 10th October, four “Buddies” members went to Brisbane to ‘man’ the Buddies’ tent at the Multicultural Music Festival in Roma St Parklands.
The positive response from so many at the festival was well beyond our expectations. We spent most of the day fielding very intelligent and genuine questions and making many quite exciting contacts. The range of cultures at the festival was, of course, very broad. People were not afraid to ask questions. They wanted to know more about the real situation of refugees and asylum seekers both in the community and still in detention. Sometimes we would look up to see people actually two or three deep, waiting for leaflets or just to talk.
It was wonderful, too, to have visits to the tent by some of the families that we have come to know through picnics over the years and by the Tiger soccer boys. Many of these brought good news of visas.
It was sobering to meet with two men who had recently arrived from Nauru.
The day was encouraging. It reinforced our belief, however, of how much there is still to do in speaking the truth, in telling the stories.