METRONEWS
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Christchurch culture event's popularity raises location concerns

Dragon
Japanese dragon performance at 'Culture Galore'.  Ryan Anderson

Culture Galore aims to celebrate the diversity of the 80 different cultures which call Christchurch home, but with crowds increasing each year has it outgrown its current location?

The annual event ran on March 10 at Ray Blank Park in Ilam, with big crowds of people showing up to celebrate the diversity of Christchurch.

Stage performances ranged from Japanese drummers to dances and songs from Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Poland, China, Fiji, Russia and many more.

With more performers getting involved, more food stalls and bigger crowds, there is a growing concern that the event is becoming too big for Ray Blank Park.

Director of Pasifika Education and Employment Training Organisation (PEETO) Patrick O'Connor, said the event has to move to get local Christchurch residents involved.

"The challenge would be to have more of the host community, or the receiving community at such an event... it's now sufficiently large enough."

He said if we have it in Hagley Park it would be much more of a city wide celebration.

The celebration was extremely popular with the car park entrance having to be moved after it began causing a traffic pile up on Maidstone road.

Riccarton-Halswell-Hornby community board chairperson Mike Mora said the size of the crowds show just how much support their is for other cultures in Christchurch.

"Each year different cultures are feeling confident enough to come and join in on the festival."

He said there is quite the feeling in the park whenever this event is run.

Many of the event organisers and stall runners have been apart of the event since it began in 2001.

Crowds
Crowds gather to watch cultural performances. Ryan Anderson

The Christchurch City Council are expected to comment later on the possibility of moving Culture Galore to Hagley park.