The organisers behind this year’s Chinese New Year and Lunar Festival in Point Cook have vowed to come back bigger and better next year after securing a Wyndham council grant.
The Point Cook Cultural Community committee was one of 30 programs, events and not-for-profit groups in Wyndham to share in $560,000 of council funding recently.
PCCC president Bob Fairclough said the $12,000 community strengthening grant would enable the festival committee to hold a much bigger event compared to this year’s offering, which attracted an estimated 15,000 people in its first year at the Point Cook Town Centre.
“The committee is hopeful that more people will attend the 2018 festival given that there will be more exciting performances showcasing Chinese culture, many information marquees and two performances of the lion dance,” Dr Fairclough said.
The 2018 festival has been slated for February 24 next year.
Other projects to receive a council grant include:
•WEstjustice’s couch surfing Myki project, which works with local schools and government to give Myki cards to local homeless kids so that they can travel to school without incurring a fine;
•The Wyndham Edge Cultural Leadership project, which will host a series of theatre workshops for culturally diverse young people; and
•An after-school cooking program that will teach kids how to prepare a healthy breakfast.
Wyndham mayor Henry Barlow said more than 120,000 people had participated in projects or events funded by the grants program since it was launched in October 2014.
“This year’s grants program … will help to make a tangible difference in our local community,” Cr Barlow said.
