Culinary Delights at St Georges Road Festival

Hundreds descended on the closed off strip to sample a dozen different cuisines and be entertained by singers and dancers from a swag of cultures. City of Greater Shepparton festival and events officer Bonnie McIntosh praised the crowd and stallholders. “It’s going really, really well. St Georges Rd always seems to be lucky with the weather. We’re five for five now,” she said. “The crowd is exceptional. We’ve got a couple of extra food vendors over previous years.”

Just some of the food on offer included cuisines from the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Syria, Spain, Afghanistan and Greece. An Iraqi stall was giving away tea, sweets and a potent coffee brew.

Vendor Amir Aleattaat said it was just part of Iraqi culture to be hospitable. Heather Campbell, Yuancai Wang and their son Alex Wang, 9, only recently returned to Shepparton after years of living in Shanghai and were amazed at the cosmopolitan nature of the day. “This is awesome, we can see a lot of changes that have taken place over the years,” Ms Campbell said.

Alex was born in Shepparton, but has spent his entire life overseas and said he was enjoying this ‘first taste’ of the local culture.

Singer Dildeep Hundal wooed the crowd, singing in his native tongue. “It’s my first experience performing for people who are not from my culture. I’m from India, the Punjab,” he said. Mr Hundal came to Shepparton from Melbourne 3½ years ago and said he preferred the more laid-back lifestyle and friendly community.

Shepparton police’s multicultural liaison officer Senior Constable Matt Walker said he was enjoying touching base with the community outside of the traditional policing role. “I’m here building relationships. It’s fantastic to see such integration here,” he said.