Lifestyle & Entertainment
1 October, 2025
Serving up a slice
THE Victorian Bangladeshi Community Foundation hosted its first Multicultural Cake Festival over the weekend in Halls Gap, bringing together flavours and traditions from Bangladesh, Nepal, Brazil, India, Timor Leste, China, Peru and the Philippines.
Bangladeshi Community Foundation member Iqbal Hossain said the idea came from a simple conversation during the school holidays.
“We were having the Bangladeshi cake with breakfast, and I thought, we’d better try something with cake, we can do a multicultural cake festival,” he said.
The event built on the group’s past success hosting gatherings for International Mother Language Day.
“I said, look, similar thing we can do, bring all the tables with a dish or cultural cake. We decided on a minimum of six, and let’s see how it goes. Today I feel like it’s a success,” Mr Hossain said.
Almost 250 people attended, with many praising the opportunity to share and learn about diverse cultures.
“I had someone from the Brazil group come to me and she said, ‘I was looking for this opportunity to show my culture to the wider community for the last 20 years,’” he said.
Mayor Karen Hyslop also joined the celebration.
“It’s been fabulous, events like this do so much for our communities, they help us reconnect, celebrate our differences and build friendships that make us stronger, especially in tough times. It’s a real privilege to have such diversity in our shire, and even better to see it all come together in one place today,” she said.
“This is the first time they’ve run it, but I think they will do it again.”
Sepe Illing from Grampians Multicultural Hub said the event demonstrated both the richness and generosity of the region’s multicultural community.
“It shows the generosity in the different cultures. For us, it’s about connecting people around the Grampians who want to get together and enjoy different cultures. We are always happy to be part of something like this, especially as newer groups."