World Music Festival Returns To Darwin On June 18th

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Jean-Eddy Moutou

Melaleuca Australia is proud to announce an exciting week of events across Darwin to celebrate Refugee Week from the 18th – 24th June.

Melaleuca Australia is a specialist organisation that supports humanitarian entrants, migrants and people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds of all ages, settling in the Northern Territory of Australia. We work in partnership with a network of individuals, community groups, government and non-government sectors to support successful settlement for our clients.

Refugee Week is a national celebration of the contribution’s refugees are making to the Australian community and aims to raise awareness of the issues affecting refugees. The theme this year is ‘Finding Freedom’ and is held 18-24 June 2023.

The Minister of Immigration sets the number of people that Australia will take in and determines the priorities for deciding who will be accepted.

Distressingly, children made up an astonishing 41% of the world’s refugees in 2021. Most people flee to neighbouring countries. The majority of refugees are being hosted in Turkey, Colombia, Pakistan, Uganda, and Germany. Developing countries host the vast majority of refugees with 83% of refugees hosted in developing countries.

Melaleuca Australia is one of Australia’s five contracted Humanitarian Settlement Program Providers who settle Humanitarian Entrants into Australia. The work we do goes beyond welcoming humanitarian entrants to collaborating with services and communities in the NT to enable a strong sense of belonging.

For over 25 years, we have worked with so many individuals, families, organisations, and the NT Government and Federal Government to settle people who have been impacted by the refugee journey into the NT. Together, we have some remarkable reasons to celebrate Refugee Week.

To do so, we bring you a range of celebratory initiatives that are honouring the theme of Finding Freedom. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Social Media – to find out more about the Refugee Week events happening across Darwin, find us on Facebook or Instagram.

REFUGEE WEEK EVENTS
World Music Festival – 18 June 4-9pm
Melaleuca Australia in partnership with Foldback Media NT is hosting World Music Festival Sunday 18 June 2023 at Jingili Water Gardens, in collaboration with Foldback Media NT. World Music Festival is Melaleuca Australia’s flagship celebration honouring the musical and artistic talents of the culturally diverse communities here in the Top End and in honour of Refugee Week. Everyone is welcome and the celebration is a free, family-friendly event offering local performances, food trucks and more!!

We have recently reopened Mela Kulcha, a social enterprise initiative of Melaleuca Australia, designed to create opportunities for clients to share their unique cultural cuisines, music and spirit of hospitality with the wider community. A variety of training, employment and business pathways have been established for our clients. This is a place for people and cultures to come together, practice English and enjoy the universal language of food and music.

The on-site café is located at Melaleuca’s Darwin office and public access is off Cavanagh Street, corner of McLachlan Street. Coffees are available between 7:30am and 11:00am from Monday to Friday (until 12noon during Refugee Week). From Monday 19 June to Friday 23 June we will be sharing some homemade treats as gifts from the Mela Kulcha Kitchen which will host five unique community members sharing their traditional treats The enterprise will scale up service over time and include catering and other opportunities, so stay tuned.

Fusion Festival – 23 June 5:30pm-8:30pm

Melaleuca Australia’s Darwin office will be opening its door to anyone who’d like to enjoy the courtyard, grab a bite to eat and enjoy some amazing local musical acts. We will also be sharing some of our work and stories so people can learn more about what we do and experience the beautiful space. Fusion Fest will feature performances by classical guitarist Katharina Fehringer, incredible Ukrainian singer Maria, Madagascan artist Angelo Raza, brilliant young dancer Philotte Biraheka, the Darwin Community Choir and wrapping up with Indian rock band Pulse.

The after party for Fusion Fest is at Bustard Town from 9pm featuring 2 stellar DJ’s Charly Templar and DJ RaggaRae bringing a wide diversity of dance music from across the world to close the evening out.

Short Film Competition – submissions due 11 June
Melaleuca Australia are holding a short film competition open to Darwin residents of all ages who arrived on a humanitarian or other migrant visa. Create a 30 second short film on this year’s theme ‘Finding Freedom’. Entries should be submitted by Sunday 11 June. There are generous cash prizes available for a range of categories and the winners which will be showcased across social media.

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