Culture Mix - Lower Crown Street

Lower Crown Street will be closed to host the all-day Food Fair. Expect the streets to sizzle and smells to entice the senses, with community groups selling cultural dishes and sweet delights and businesses along Crown Street trading out with special festival promotions.

Join us at one of our two communal banquet tables on Lower Crown Street, encouraging the joy of coming together and sharing a great community feast.

The Global Stage is your go-to for a toe-tapping musical journey, blending traditional and contemporary cultural sounds into a vibrant soundtrack for the festival. It’s the perfect pairing with our mouth-watering Food Fair precinct.

Tap your feet, grab a bite from the Food Fair, and let yourself be swept away by an incredible lineup of local and visiting music talent. From soulful melodies to global grooves, it’s a cultural music smorgasbord you won’t want to miss.

Thank you to MC Ekrem Phoenix and the Stranded DJs.

Let’s Dance is a vibrant, all-day celebration of movement, music, and intercultural connection. People of all ages, backgrounds and abilities are invited to step onto the dancefloor to experience the joy of dance from around the world.

Throughout the day, professional dance instructors will lead fun, beginner-friendly workshops showcasing traditional and contemporary dance styles from a variety of cultures. After each workshop, a live DJ or band will take over, playing music from that culture so participants can put their new moves into action.

Explore Dreaming Botanica, a series of oil paintings by Wollongong-based Chinese artist Mia Ban.

This exhibition explores childhood wonder through local flora, fauna, and marine life rendered on a surreal scale. Inspired by Wollongong’s natural environment, the works depict children in imaginative everyday encounters with local species. The oversized plants and animals represent the emotional significance nature holds in childhood memory.

Mia’s paintings explore themes of identity, memory, and belonging often through a dreamlike visual language and childlike symbolism. Here, she’s inspired by nature and specifically local Illawarra species like kangaroo paws, eastern flame pea and the swift parrot, inviting audiences to rediscover the rich biodiversity of the Illawarra through a child’s imaginative lens.

Mia has exhibited widely in both China and the USA and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Seattle in 2015. These original artworks have been commissioned as part of Wollongong City Council’s Public Art Program.