Grass Roots World Music Festival

While Brazil is busy playing host to the world’s football elite, Blacktown is set to host some of the world’s best music and dance at the 2014 Grass Roots World Music Festival.

On Saturday 21 June, the Blacktown Arts Centre will rock and roll global style with two stages of ancient ceremonies, drumming and dance, village songs, sacred music and unique music fusions.

Now in its third year, the Grass Roots World Music Festival forms part of Refugee Week and is a unique opportunity to unite Australians, celebrate our diversity and showcase the rich and diverse heritage of Western Sydney.

The line-up also features many former refugees who have made Australia their home, including dancers from Sierra Leone and south Sudan, singers from Afghanistan and a guitarist from Vietnam, to name a few.

Artistic Director, Richard Petkovic, says the Festival is designed to be an interactive experience allowing the audience to participate and be transported. “In one hour, you can travel from the animist rituals of Africa to the celebration of divine love in Pakistan; you can move to the hypnotic grooves in a folk dance circle or be involved in a 50 strong choir performance,” he says.

“The Festival also celebrates the hidden stories of western Sydney: like Shohrat Tursan, a truck driver in Casula who has performed and recorded his music in Japan, China, the US and Germany; and Ngọc-Tuấn Hoàng, who arrived in Australia 30 years ago as a refugee from Vietnam, and is now a skilled musician, poet, fiction writer, playwright, and teacher of literature and music,” Richard adds.

This year’s event is packed with entertainment for the whole family and will also include jewellery making, Indian body art, group artworks and Chinese music workshops. People can also sample a smorgasbord of delicious foods from Sri Lanka and South India. Entry is free.

The Festival is a joint partnership involving SydWest Multicultural Services, the Blacktown Arts Centre and Cultural Arts Collective.