Luminous highlights 2022

What a night – thanks to everyone who joined us at Multicultural Australia’s LUMINOUS Lantern Parade at South Bank on 10 June.

It was a beautiful evening of welcome to all new Queenslanders, celebrating the rich cultural contributions of Queensland’s diverse communities.

Now in its 15th year, LUMINOUS is one of Queensland’s largest welcome events, capturing the imagination of Queenslanders with its spectacular use of light to symbolise hope and create welcome for new Queenslanders. Our event is held in conjunction with Queensland Day (6 June) to celebrate Queensland’s birthday and our unique culture, heritage, people, places and industries.

The evening commenced with our Partner event at Flowstate where Her Excellency the Honourable Dr Jeannette Young AC PSM spoke about her role as our support for our work in her role as our Patron. Thanks also to our other dignitaries who joined us, The Honourable Leanne Linard MP, Minister for Children, Youth Justice and Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Councillor Vicki Howard on behalf of the Lord Mayor and the Executive General Manager, Suncorp, Mr Matthew Leslie.

Our CEO Christine Castley then chaired a panel discussion including three remarkable young people who travelled with Multicultural Australia on their journey to settling in Australia.

A symbolic smoking ceremony was held to launch the beginning of the parade, with the spectacular lantern procession beginning at Flowstate, and winding its way on a short and symbolic walk down the promenade taking in the sites of the city skyline. The Story Bridge and Victoria Bridges were also lit up in our colours of yellow and orange to celebrate the event.

The parade had over 80 walking groups with close to 2,000 walkers from all parts of our community – schools, faith communities, service providers, cultural community groups, government, clients (who include refugees, migrants and international students) and corporate partners. We estimate there was over 10,000 spectators to watch the parade.

The Parade ended at the South Bank Piazza where guests joined us for a vibrant World music concert, with the lanterns bathed in the luminous light symbolising welcome and hope for many people from all over the world, especially our newest Queenslanders.

LUMINOUS attracts supporters from across the community including all levels of government, corporate and community organisations.

Indigenous elders, migrant and refugee communities, service providers, education and training providers, church organisations, schools, various stakeholder groups and the wider community also walk in the Parade or participate in a range of LUMINOUS satellite events.

LUMINOUS 2022 featured its traditional array of beautiful lanterns held by our partners and sponsors, communities and stakeholders. The lanterns included a koala, owl, giraffe, clownfish, kangaroo, elephant, lion and rainbow serpent, along with characters such as Alice in Wonderland, and iconic Brisbane landmarks including the Story Bridge and City Hall.

This year Multicultural Australia featured LUMINOUS in the Regions and LUMINOUS in the Neighbourhood events across Brisbane and in Toowoomba and Rockhampton, spreading the message of welcome across Queensland. These events included pre-event activities in the community building and decorating the pyramid paper lanterns that were later used in the parade.

These regional and neighbourhood communities have a long history of welcoming refugees and migrants, building multicultural communities that are celebrated and valued.

One of the inspiring things about hosting events such as this is the community spirit it builds. From participating in lantern workshops, to attending the event, it all involves a conversation about multiculturalism and how we can create welcome to new Queenslanders.

Events like LUMINOUS Lantern Parade don’t happen without the generosity of our volunteers. From the set up to the pack down, from crowd management at the World Music Concert to hosting the partner event, we couldn’t do it without them.

Our volunteers are members of the public who are passionate about connecting with multicultural communities, job seekers seeking experience in the events field and of course our dedicated Multicultural Australia staff. Thanks go to them all for making the magic happen.

Our work at Multicultural Australia is to change the conversation about who we are as a community and how we can be better – we cannot do this alone, which is why it’s so important for us to work with partners. Our message is stronger if it is shared by many voices. We think we have something positive to say, and we’ve been able to encourage others to come and join us,and be energised by their new ideas. We’d like to say a big thank you to our incredible sponsors who made the LUMINOUS Lantern Parade possible!

Suncorp, Brisbane City Council, Queensland Government, AFL Queensland, Brisbane Catholic Education, Brisbane Lions, Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of Brisbane, Queensland Human Rights Commission, Queensland Unions, Queensland Theatre, HOST International, Australian Department of Home Affairs, blue APACHE, CSnet, Hastings Deering, Mater, Settlement Services International – SSI, TAFE Queensland English Language and Literacy Services, 4EB, oOh!media, JMC Academy, Football Queensland

If you enjoyed the LUMINOUS Lantern Parade, Multicultural Australia’s Our Journey is next on the calendar on 21 August followed by the MOSAIC Multicultural Festival on 18 September. The festival celebrates the rich cultural contributions all of us bring through dance, music, spoken word poetry and storytelling, visual arts and crafts, children’s and family activities and cooking demonstrations.

We hope to see you there.