Wellington’s shared cultural history has been brought back to the forefront, thanks to Wellington Arts’ Fong Lees Lane event that redecorated a corner of the town to host a cultural celebration.
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Organised by Wellington Arts in association with the Dream Festival, the event brought several different styles of food vendor together and offered a glimpse at some of Wellington’s beginning moments as a meeting point between different cultures.
Food from every corner of the globe was served through the assortment of vendor stalls that were working through the night, accompanied by live music and performances.
The night’s centrepiece event, however, was the parade, in which children from Wellington High School danced through the street under the costume of a large dragon in order to bring luck and prosperity.
Organiser Natacha Richards was stunned by just how much support the evening received.
It’s success was beyond our dreams. We had no idea, I was thinking we might get about two hundred people, but we really had no idea, I was hoping for about five hundred. I don’t think it’s properly sunk in just how successful the night was for us.
- Natacha Richards
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“We did run out food at the event, but every business in town got the roll-on effect from that. The Thai and Chinese restaurants had hour long waits and the Cow and Cafe had to stop taking orders. That to me is so amazing as well, the roll-on that’s brought a lot more business out to the town on the rest of that night.” Mrs Richards said.
“We ended up with just under two and a half thousand attendees.”
“There are definitely plans for another event in that Fong Lee Lane style, whether it’s another event celebrating the Chinese, I don’t know, but there definitely will be something else.”
