Geraldton Harmony Festival promises top music, entertainment and cultural experiences

Geraldton’s Harmony Festival on Saturday is an event not to be missed, with assurances the music, entertainment and cultural foods will be the best yet.

Lotterywest is sponsoring the festival on March 12 to celebrate building a better Western Australia through culture, dance and music.

A highlight of this year’s festival will be saying “farewell to shorebirds”, which travel to the Mid West in summertime and by March fly hundreds of kilometres up the coast and through countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, China and Japan, returning to Russia and Siberia for nesting.

Mid West Multicultural Association president Tom Mwangi said although COVID-19 restrictions were in place, the festival would be hosted safely following public health measures.

“We are hoping to deliver the festival in the safest way possible,” he said.

“There will be entertainment such as belly dancing, Indian classical and Bollywood dancing and food stalls while co-operating to the 500-person capacity limit.

“There have been limits on what we offer, such as pony rides, due to social distancing measures, and in certain circumstances we will ask for proof of vaccination. But we have full confidence in the community to do the right thing and look after each other.”

Mr Mwangi said the event is family friendly, free to attend and the weather is set to be mostly perfect.

“You don’t have to leave town to get entertainment, it’s a local event for local people,” he said.