Dancers from the Borobudur Dance Troupe and National Multicultural Festival director Petra Rutledge. Photo: James Coleman.
The Borobudur Dance Troupe is gearing up for its biggest event of the year.
The traditional Indonesian dancing group, which inherits its name from the Borobudur Temple in Central Java – the world’s largest Buddhist temple – will be among more than 300 performance groups taking part in the 2025 National Multicultural Festival.
Early-morning visitors to Glebe Park last week might even have been treated to a brief performance as part of the media launch for the festival.
The Troupe has been performing at Canberra’s National Multicultural Festival since 2010.
Every time it comes around again, “we get so excited, especially when we perform in front of thousands of people – it just gives us more energy and enthusiasm”, one dancer told Region.
A little foretaste of what to expect at the 2025 National Multicultural Festival in February. Photo: James Coleman.
For the upcoming event from 7 to 9 February 2025, it looks like they’ll be entertaining even more people, with the 2025 National Multicultural Festival set to take over an even larger chunk of Glebe Park than before.
“By extending beyond the traditional city precinct and further into Glebe Park, we’re ensuring that more members of the community can enjoy this iconic event, safely and comfortably,” ACT Minister for Multicultural Affairs Michael Pettersson said.
Since 2023, the festival has expanded into Glebe Park, as construction work begins at Garema Place and London Circuit.
That year’s event attracted 380,000 visitors and brought in a total economic benefit to the ACT economy of $20.8 million – significantly more than the 2022 figure of $12.2 million.
Crowds walking through the stalls along City Walk during the 2021 festival. Photo: National Multicultural Festival Twitter.
Later that year, there were discussions about whether the festival would have to relocate from the city entirely from 2026 when the government’s current funding allocation runs out.
“We have to review the festival footprint every year, and we have been doing that,” then Multicultural Affairs Minister Tara Cheyne said in July 2023.
“The footprint has changed. There will be major changes to Civic Square and Garema Place, so we’ll be working through in years to come exactly what that footprint is.”
The 2024 festival went deeper into Glebe Park and welcomed 417,359 visitors. More than 170 cultures were represented across 300 performance groups and 264 stalls.
The 2025 festival will provide entertainment across eight stages, with more than 270 stalls and 200 performers.
Festival director Petra Rutledge said the Glebe Park location opens it up to more performances and more attendees and “provides a beautiful setting in the heat of February”.
“We’re still looking at what the future of the festival holds in terms of the footprint – the city is ever-changing – but we are flexible and adaptable, so we’ll respond as that occurs,” she added.
“We think this is a beautiful place for the festival but it’s still to be confirmed what the 2026 festival footprint looks like.”
There’s plenty of welcome shade to be found in Glebe Park. Photo: James Coleman.
She’s quietly confident that with good weather, the 2025 event can return the same record figures of 2024 “and more”.
“I think this festival is a really big draw-card in terms of pulling people to Canberra … and it’s something different in terms of the calendar of events across Australia.”
The full line-up of performers and stallholders will be announced in January, but some of the early confirmations include Tibetan singer and instrumentalist Tenzin Choegyal, Charlie Needs Braces and Slavic folk singer Innessa.
As part of the festival’s “commitment to accessibility,” the organisers say all festival staff and volunteers will be trained in “dementia awareness” and a dedicated seniors’ “chill zone” will be located at Civic Library.
Visit the National Multicultural Festival for more information.
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