Garden for the Future to host Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Service's Zinda Festival

Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Service's Zinda Festival is on from 3pm to 8pm at the Bendigo Botanic Gardens' Garden for the Future.

The free festival's program includes a smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country, Bendigo Chinese Association's lion dancers, a demonstration from HH Kung Fu Club and a Hazara fashion runway show.

Several multicultural food vendors will be spread out through the garden, including Ethiopian street food, tandoori, and dumplings.

For children there will be arts and crafts, Chinese calligraphy, face painting and henna tattooing.

LCMS chief Sonia Di Mezza said the last Zinda festival was cancelled the day before due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however she hopes the momentum from the two previous festivals follows over to this one.

"The pandemic is still with us but we've learnt to live with it," she said. "People have gone through a lot, so this will be a great chance for everyone to get together, celebrate and enjoy themselves.

"One of the objectives of Zinda is to bring the diverse multicultural communities together and connect with the wider Anglo-Caucasian communities, so we can learn more about each other, we can connect and understand each others' culture."

Zinda means 'alive' or 'lively' in a number of languages spoken by culturally diverse communities in Bendigo including Hindi, Hazaragi and Urdu.

Ms Di Mezza said with the festival's return she hoped it would grow into one of the biggest and most vibrant multicultural celebrations in the state.

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