The City of Mandurah has partnered with the National Australia Day Council to bring four days of activities and highlights during Mandurah’s Longest Australia Day Weekend from January 23-26.
Thanks to this partnership, the community will be able to celebrate local stories through a new-look program of events.
The theme is ‘Reflect, Respect, Celebrate – We’re all part of the story’.
Mayor Rhys Williams said Mandurah's Longest Australia Day Weekend will launch a series of ‘endless weekends’ in Mandurah during summer and beyond.
“We’ve had to reshape the way we do our events, to make sure we keep our community safe by adhering to the best health advice from the State Government,” Mayor Williams said.
“We’re making the most of the current situation by delivering our events in a COVID-friendly way, giving people the opportunity to come together safely, and more often, to enjoy all Mandurah has to offer.
“Australia Day celebrations are the first cab off the rank, and will kick-off a series of smaller weekend events for everyone to enjoy.
“Our events program is really important to us, as not only does it connect and activate our community, it also injects around $16m into our local economy. This is why we’ve reallocated $252,000 from what we’d normally spend on our signature events - Crab Fest and New Year’s Eve - to organising a more regular series of events during 2021.
“We’ve also been successful in securing a grant from the National Australia Day Council to provide these much-needed events and activities across the Australia Day long weekend. We’re very grateful for this opportunity to bring people together to reflect, respect and celebrate – we’re all part of the story.
“We will also be welcoming more than 120 new citizens from 21 different countries who will be taking the pledge, and celebrating our Community Citizen of the Year winners – there is so much to be proud of on Australia Day 2021.”
National Australia Day Council Chief Executive Officer Karlie Brand said local governments’ role in bringing communities together on the national day has never been more important.
“That’s why the National Australia Day Council has provided $15million in grants to Australian councils and not-for-profit organisations for Australia Day events in 2021,” Ms Brand said. “The National Australia Day Council is delighted to be supporting the City of Mandurah to deliver an Australia Day that encourages its community to come together and reflect, respect and celebrate.”
For more information about Mandurah’s Longest Australia Day Weekend, and for the full event program, go to www.mandurah.wa.gov.au/australiaday
