Big crowds flowed through Memorial Park to celebrate the sixth annual Griffith Multicultural Festival.

Festival organiser Carmel La Rocca said she couldn’t be happier with the wonderful showcase of diversity.

“It was an amazing, glorious day,” she said.

“It continues to grow every year. There were easily twice as many people as last year.

“It is hard to say, because

they came and went all day, but there would have been 5000 people.

“We started this festival to showcase the many cultures

in Griffith and to have fun doing it and it has continued to evolve into something we can all be proud of.”

More than 20 performances by a wide range of nationalities helped make the day a success.

Mrs La Rocca said she was delighted to see the festival so well received.

“I feel really happy that the community has embraced it the way they have,” she said.

“I believe it is a perfect festival for Griffith because we have so many cultures here.

“The highlight for me was seeing everyone come together to celebrate. It just makes our community a more harmonious and better place and everyone feels like they belong.”

Among the performances were Fijian, Filipino, Aboriginal, Samoan, Cook Islands, Scottish, Afghani, Indian, Tongan, Chinese and Spanish.

The mouthwatering array of cuisines proved popular with the hungry masses, while the spaghetti-eating competition was also a real crowd-pleaser.

Meanwhile, parade of about 50 national flags made for a stunning spectacle.

“The best thing for me was seeing the crowd so happy,” Mrs La Rocca said.

“The police got involved too, which was wonderful. We had people come out of the woodwork to perform.

“We also had some really interesting food stalls this year and I think people appreciated that.”