The annual Lonsdale Street Glendi is one of Melbourne's most popular and longest running cultural events. Coinciding with the Greek Independence Day on March 25th, the Lonsdale Street Glendi is a major two day festival honouring the local Greek community and Melbourne's own Greek Predict.
The annual festival celebrates the culture, cuisine and carnival traditions of Cyprus, Crete, Peloponnese, Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace and Pontos.
This year, the Lonsdale Street Glendi (held as part of the annual Melbourne Antipodes Festival) will be held on the weekend of February 25th and 26th, 2012. The day long festivities include live music performances by local and international artists and Greek folk dance groups.
One of the major highlights of this year's weekend event is a special free concert by Pantelis Thalassinos, a celebrated Greek singer and songwriter. This will his only Melbourne performance. Thalassinos is one of Greece's most distinguished artists and this will be the first time he will be performing in Australia.
Also performing at this year's Lonsdale Street Glendi will be the Melbourne based band Meyanè, the OPA! brass band, Dimotiko Ksefantoma and Cretan Live.
There are also food tastings and culinary workshops at the Greek Kitchen.
Plus there is Kids Space, where children can participate in various creative workshops, enjoy carnival rides and watch a range of children's entertainment. Click here for the complete Kids Space program.
There will also be a range of food and retail market stalls on site.
The Antipodes Festival, which has been running in Melbourne since 1987, refers to a series of cultural events held throughout the year in Melbourne; the Lonsdale Street Glendi is just one of the major events under the Antipodes banner (which includes the annual Greek Film Festival).
