Resettled Bhutanese become a part of Australia Day celebration

Aussie Bhutanese in Parade. Photo: Vikram

January 27, 2010: Ex-refugees from Bhutan, resettled in Adelaide, participated in the Australia Day celebration by joining the parade in the city, on Tuesday.

Clad neatly in the Bhutanese national dress, Gho and Kira, and some in the ethnic Nepali dress, Daura Suruwal and Guneu Cholo, the participants joined some 60 other communities of South Australia to parade from Hindmarsh Square to Elders Park that began at 6 pm and lasted for an hour. They carried and waved Bhutanese and Australian flags throughout the parade.

‘Australian Bhutanese were very distinct in the parade and we heard people keenly making note of our presence as the newest community ’, says Sushil Niraula, the cultural desk coordinator of the Bhutanese Association in South Australia. Multicultural SA had supplied 40 pieces of Australian and Bhutanese flag to the participants.

The parade was organized by the Australia Day Celebration Council and Adelaide City Council which was followed by a concert and fireworks that lasted till late night.

Every year, January 26 is celebrated as the Australia Day commemorating the first arrival of European in Sydney in 1788.