Pako Festa

Geelong Festivals and Events

Pako Festa showcases cultural diversity - via a smorgasbord of cultural food, folk dancing, the famous Pako Parade, workshops, art exhibitions, multicultural craft displays and entertainment.

Staged as a free event, it currently attracts the participation of around 30 cultural community groups, up to 70 community groups and a total attendance in excess of 100,000 people.

The Festa presents entertainment on four world music stages, a dedicated Youth Stage, as well as West Town Hall and Channel 7 stages. Crowds also enjoy a host of roving street performers, a smorgasbord of ethnic and local foods, and there is a big range of free activities for children.

The signature highlight of the day is the Pako Parade comprising a colourful stream of cultural and community floats, groups, entertainers and brass bands that flows through the 1 kilometer festival precinct.

The festival is an opportunity for local and regional cultural groups to promote cultural diversity and educate the broader community of the beauty and enriching capacity of multiculturalism and community arts.

The Pako Festa was first staged in 1983 and continues as a durable and much-loved, community event, and the largest free multicultural festival in Australia. As such, it attracts significant state and regional interest, both media wise and in terms of visitation by corporate and Government representatives.

Pako Festa is traditionally staged on the last Saturday in February.