What+are+the+stories+behind+Melbourne's+traditional+festivals+and+celebrations?

= = = There are many traditional festivals and celebrations in Melbourne's CBD. It's now time to acknowledge the stories behind these specific events. These include many popular events that are always changing to suit the needs of modern day people. We are going to be focusing on events such as: Moomba and Melbourne's International Festival (comedy, animations, film and arts). =



==== Moomba is a popular, free and annual event, where the streets come alive with colour and excitement. It's a fun day for people of all ages who can visit the banks of the Yarra and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere that Moomba has to offer. It is held on Labour Day and was first celebrated on the 12th of March,1954. It's a festival unfolding into the parks, streets and river banks. This festival brings Melbourne to life. ====

==== The idea of a large festival for the people was a dream the Councillor Maurice Nathan had for many years, but two World Wars and the Depression prevented the dream from coming true. It was not until 1954, on his return from an overseas trip, that the Councillor re-thought the idea of having a large and annual open festival for the people of Melbourne. From the 1950s to the 1970s was when Moomba was in high demand, attracting hundreds of people. ====

** The story behind Moomba, **
==== Moomba is an Aboriginal word meaning 'lets get together and have fun'.When a name was needed for Melbourne's new festival, Bill Onus (President of the Australian Aborigines league) suggested 'Moomba' to the city council (the name had been previously used for a theater production). Although Moomba was chosen to be the name for Melbourne's new festival, about 14 years later there was an allegation that the name Moomba actually had the meaning '(Moom) bottom (ba) up.This allegation was sent into //The Age// by a Monash academic Lorna Lippman. The claim was held very publicly in the papers, although people were not sure whether or not this claim was a hoax. Soon after, Bill Onus' daughter responded saying her father knowingly knew that it meant bottom up, however had suggested that the word was 'an intervention against the confidence and dominance of white society’. Therefore he suggested the name to emphasize the inequalities within society. On the other hand, a fellow Monash academic Sylvia Klienert had argued that 'Moomba' was part of a private language used by Aborigines descending from the southeast. ====

==== Aside from that, Moomba was chosen to acknowledge the presence of Aboriginals, whatever the meaning is the name was given for political reasons at that time (when aboriginals didn't have land rights or even citizenship). ====

==== I found the Moomba Monarch interesting and I thought I would share this with you.Controversially, the Moomba Monarch has been one of the most celebrated components of the festival we call Moomba! There are two different 'queens and kings', the Queen of Moomba (introduced in 1955) and the Queen of the Pacific and the King of Moomba (introduced in 1967). At first all royals ruled at the same time. But by 1988 all the royals were replaced by only one Monarch. Soon after (2000 to 2009 ) there was no Moomba Monarch! But meanwhile there was a new role introduced, the 'Young Ambassador’. Carrie Stoney was awarded it in 2003, Sam Quinn, a deaf Olympian basketball player, was awarded it in 2004, Alan Wu for his contribution towards youth made him the best candidate for the honor to be the youth ambassador for 2005 and in 2006 Natalie Bassingthwaite was awarded it for her fundraising for charity. But by 2010 the roles for Queen and King of Moomba and the Queen of the Pacific were re-introduced. Other Moomba Monarchs included Olympian Cathy Freeman and Singer Marina Prior. ====

==== As you can see Moomba may still not have a great deal of representation from the aboriginal community. However it seems to be making a more conscious effort towards representing diversity within the community. ====

**Melbourne International Comedy Festival**
==== The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is a great festival all in all. This festival includes many different acts from many different places all around the world. It is the third largest comedy festival in the world. It was established in 1987 and is an annual event in Melbourne held at Melbourne Town Hall (but performances can be held at various venues throughout the city). It runs for four weeks and used to run throughout April, always opening on or around April Fools' Day but these days run mid to late March. When this festival first opened it held about 56 separate shows; by 1999 it had about 120 shows. But of course in 2010 it had a record of 369 shows including 4,947 performers locally and internationally (International artists coming in from a variety of places such as the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and China).It was originally held in the Universal and Athenaeum theatres but around the 1990's this festival moved to the new homeground we call Melbourne Town Hall. Soon after this festival started spreading further out to produce these programs independently at the Melbourne Trades Hall and in 2010 ran in Trades Hall venue. Melbourne International Comedy Festival is a wonderful example of Melbourne's fantastic festivals. ====

- and other forms of performing arts.
==== The festival changed its name from Spoleto Festival Melbourne to Melbourne International Festival of the Arts in 1990, but was only seriously known as the Melbourne International Arts Festival in 2003. This free festival is held for 17 days in October. This festival shows off many established companies acts and independent acts.This festival is known around Australia and is an outdoor event. The Melbourne International Festival Of The Arts is a great festival for not only the people but the artists getting the chance to showcase their art. ==== ==== This festival also showcases three different types of comedy Raw comedy, a competition for Australia's biggest open mic. Class clowns, a national comedy competition for high school students and Deadly fun, an indigenous comedy competition that celebrates the unique humor of Indigenous Australians. ====

**Melbourne International Film Festival**
==== This film festival has a reputation of being the most exciting film festivals in not only Melbourne but the whole of Australia! This film festival includes of course film screenings and many appearances from actors and actresses around the world. You can enter many competitions and win prizes for things like: ====

- Emerging Australian film maker and many more.
==== It was first held in 1951 making this wonderful film festival one of the oldest in the world. Like the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, it is also held in different venues in and around the city. These include the Forum Theatre, Melbourne Town Hall and more. This festival is an annual festival held over three weeks.The current festival director is Michelle Carey and the ambassadors include Eric Bana and Geoffrey Rush, both actors, and documentary producer Morgan Spurlock. This festival holds 400 films over the time period that it is held over. Like the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, it is held in many different venues around the city. The International Film Festival is an awesome chance to show off Melbourne's most talented film directors, actors and their movies. This is also the largest film festival in Australia with about 400 films screened from more than 50 different countries, it is also the most attended film festival in Australia with more than 182,000 attending (in 2007) and has attracted many tourists from many places in this big wide world. ====

**Melbourne International Animations Festival**
==== This festival is the largest animations festival in Australia. An animations festival is where Melbourne shows off the best new animations with a variety of different themes. This festival is held for eight days in a row. Although this festival requires tickets, I have heard that it is worth it. ====

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