By Michael Newhouse
CHINESE New Year celebrations kicked off with a bang on Sunday, as tens of thousands of people crammed into Alfrieda St, St Albans – the heart of the West’s Asian community – to ring in the new lunar year.
“I want to warn the people sitting at the front who haven’t attended before that this is quite an assault on the auditory system,” president of the St Albans Traders Association Sebastian Agricola told those assembled at the front of the stage, just before Brimbank mayor Margaret Giudice lit the first of three rounds of fireworks.
And so, with the crack of gunpowder and the rhythm of traditional drumming, thousands of people from Brimbank and beyond said goodbye to the Year of the Dog, and welcomed 2007 as the Year of Boar.
Sunday marked the start of celebrations leading up to the coming Chinese New Year, which officially begins on 18 February.
It was also this year’s first major political get-together, and state politicians and councillors pressed the flesh as punters began streaming into the centre of St Albans.
Brimbank councillors Sam David, Miles Dymott, Costas Socratous, Kathryn Eriksson and Anthony Abate were on hand to celebrate the new year, as was new Victorian Liberal Upper House MP Bernie Finn and new Victorian Labor Upper House MP Khalil Eideh, among a smattering of other influential Western politicians.
But Sunday’s focus was the people and the community, not the politicians.
From noon, people packed into a blocked-off Alfrieda St, lined with children’s rides, stores, and stalls selling traditional Chinese and Vietnamese food, to enjoy everything the multicultural community had to offer.
Stalls sold DVDs and CDs, people picked through stalls selling everything from lucky cacti to sunglasses, while children tried their luck at carnival games, trying to win plush toys that stood almost as tall as them.
For husband and wife Caroline and Long Diep, of Caroline Springs, the new year celebrations have become something of a tradition since they married 16 years ago.
They met after Long moved to Australia from Vietnam 20 years ago, and have attended all new year festivities since they were married.
“We can bring the community all around and get closer together,” Mr Diep said about this year’s festival, as two dragons danced around the sound and smell of firecrackers exploding in warm afternoon sun – shades of red cracker casing flying everywhere.
Police estimated a crowd of up to 45,000 attended this year’s festival, which ran from about noon to 10pm.
Police said they were pleased with the crowd’s behaviour and emphasised that the community and family atmosphere meant there was rarely any trouble at events such as this.
