National flags, cultures and neighborhood celebrated as a part of the Harmony Festival in Katanning | USAEMALL.com

Colour, music and laughter filled the streets of Katanning on Friday night as the Harmony Festival brought the town’s rich mix of cultures to life.

The event was part of Harmony Week, which ran from March 16 to March 22, and celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity, promoting inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging to everyone.

The Harmony Festival took place at the all-ages playground and skatepark providing the opportunity for the people of Katanning to come together and celebrate the different cultures that make up the community.

The festival officially began at 5.30pm with the annual Harmony Parade seeing national flags paraded around the park.

The opening ceremony occurred shortly after that, with a welcome to country acknowledgement and didgeridoo performance.

Crowds flocked to the grass to enjoy the live music from singers and bands as the sun started to set.

Dozens of stalls and food markets lined the street with visitors able to choose between different cultural foods from around the globe, with the Italian and Asian stalls being a crowd favourite.

Katanning Community Resource Centre co-ordinator Katie Wheeler said it was a great night and a massive turnout.

“It was perfect weather for the evening and was a great night with food, family and fun,” she said.

“We were amazed — it was a great turnout with huge crowds and everyone was really harmonious.”

Ms Wheeler said one of the main attractions of the event was aimed at a younger crowd.

“The youth initiative at the skate park with the kids was really well attended,” she said.

“It was probably a highlight and something different — it focused on the youth and brought them really into it for the whole night.

“And the family zone being such a large area allowed families to relax and enjoy the space.”

Katanning shire president Kristy D’Aprile said the community enjoyed the evening and made the most of the festivities.

“It was an excellent evening,” she said.

“I’m really proud of the event that our organisers put on and I think our community loved it.

Cr D’Aprile said changing the event location was a great idea from the community.

“It was a community suggestion to relocate the festival down to the all-ages playground and I think that was the master stroke of a genius — its just such a beautiful location,” she said.

“I’ve got loads of positive feedback from our community and I think it was a wonderful event displaying the peace and harmony of our community.”

The new youth initiative proved a success, with Cr D’Aprile saying it drew many people to the event.

“There seemed to be a lot of people there and we had a lot of youth come to check it out,” she said.

“We had people visiting from Perth who came especially for that (the youth zone).”

Cr D’Aprile said her favourite part of the day was the parade and seeing all the national flags and cultures come together in harmony.

“The most moving event was the didgeridoo player as the flags were coming in and I think that was very emotional,” she said.

“Having it centred around First Nations culture and then having all the other cultures come in and around that I thought it was very symbolic of our community.”