World Party 2010

Food, music and violence towards international students were the catalysts for World Party. Designed to bring our diverse community together, the Party worked a treat. About 6000 people grazed and grooved and shmoozed over 10 hours last Sunday. And the goodwill didn't stop at the door. Hobartians of all sorts, carrying away sushi by Masaaki Koyama and Greek sweets by the Estia crowd, engaged happily with each other going along the streets leading from the City Hall and on the buses on their way home. World Party made a lot of students and recent arrivals in Hobart more confident and gave cause for great pride to the older arrivers to our shore who partied with them. It was inspiring to see everyone happy in their own skin.

As you will see from the photo a couple down from here I had my hands full with the requirements of some 20 international food stall holders and a similar number of musical and dance acts that stretched from 2.00pm until midnight so I am once again indebted to my good friend, the very talented Marc Bester for his great photographic record of the day. His pic of this conger line formed by the Greek dancers early on captures the mood of the day very well.

Jonathon Poh a UTAS student who usually makes mooncakes made these gorgeous coconut desserts which burst in the mouth with their liquid centre. Unfortunately the recent Mooncake festivals in Hobart had cleaned all our Chinese stockists out of mooncake ingredients otherwise we would have seen Jon's beautifully crafted and coloured examples of this delicacy.

All the usual suspects were there. Some just having a beer and a chat ...

and some - well what can I say Rob. The dreamiest Clean Team worked tirelessly to make sitting down and eating a pleasure for all. Thanks also to Janet Carty, Fiona and Peter Davis, Robert Jarman, Jude Franks and Kim Foale.

Bree Mooney , alias Mondo Mama sold out in no time her hundreds of Italian bombolini.

These citrus flavoured Italian donuts were variously filled with chocolate, Meyer lemon curd and rosehip jam and then rolled in sugar.

Bree's bombolini were beautifully matched with Barista Sista, Anja Boot's coffee, the location of which had to be explained to our hard working security staff. I am happy to say however, that this all ages, licensed, day/night event was totally without incident or excessive consumption of alcohol.

One of the star attractions was Geeveston sushi genius Masaaki Koyama whose exquisitely crafted offerings were snapped up from the time he and his partner Lucy commenced operating.

These fried tofu wrapped sushi rice offerings named after the Shinto god Inari were a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. They were the best example of their kind I have seen.

And among Masaaki's customers I have no doubt would have been the amazing and stirring Taiko drummers who delighted the crowd early in the afternoon's line up.

Fen Zhou the Chinese lute player also enchanted the large crowd of 1000 plus who flowed in as soon as the doors opened.

The Tibetan Buddhist monks stall featured the traditional dumplings known as Momos and they were a huge hit, including with the Chinese Buddhist monks who later took the audience's breath away with the most athletic and meticulously choreographed Lion Dance Tasmania has seen. Thank you Master Wang.

These Momos were one of the few things I actually found time to sample and with the Tibetan's hot, and I mean hot, chilli sauce they were absolutely what I needed.

The Indonesian student's stall was carefully decorated and they had a great day they told me as well as a very successful one - selling out completely by the end of the evening. Their elevated mood typified the goodwill in the City Hall that was palpable all day long.

The Madi Tribal Dancers from the southern Sudan also rocked the crowd with their drumming and rhythmic movement. The African kids all had a great day and the young rappers and funk performers later on were also a huge hit with their polished performances.

Cultural cuppas were in evidence and were free, as I should say, was water, all day long thanks to the generosity of Richard Dobosz of Wellington Springs.

Indian food was represented by the Indian Kitchen and the Zaika Indian restaurant.

These pappadams and naan breads were seen everywhere and were just a fabulous accompaniment to the curries.

This beautiful and graceful Bhutanese dancer was one of the true artistic highlights of the day. Her great talent and grace belied her mere 14 years of age.

The World Party was also a quiet remembrance of murdered Chinese student Tina Yu and it was wonderful to see the Chinese PRC Student's Society so well represented and accompanied by their friends including food stalls by Four Seasons and Wah Yuen

The Chinese students stall had a beautifully decorated backdrop and was a popular spot for the Chinese artists during the breaks in their acts - including show stoppers Jason Xu and the Hotkings.

More Indonesian ...

and still more

The Thai stall - Zapp Thai was also a crowd pleaser

And the Greek ladies desserts were to die for.

Overseas students were seen taking large bags full of baklava and kourabiethes back to their accommodation as fuel for their study for imminent exams. It was a delight to see.

Some of the best baklava I have ever tasted. It was very kind of the Hobart Greek Community to turn out in such force. They also ran the bar and a souvlaki stall.

And the World Party would not have been possible without this man who arranged 10 hours of the most amazing and uplifting global music and dance. Non stop and seamless - thanks Martin Blackwell. All these artists came from within Tasmania and appeared without fee or for a nominal amount. This was a free, not for profit event and was a party to remember.