On Saturday, September 14, the Hellenic Youth Club of Canberra (HYC) held its premiere Greek event, Bouzouki Night.
Taking place at the Hellenic Club in Woden, the popular ACT music event commenced at 6:30 pm and went into the early hours of Sunday morning.
The successful night welcomed around 270 people who were treated to a delicious two-course meal, accompanied by non-stop entertainment throughout the night.
Kicking off with a committee address by the HYC, the event consisted of live Greek music from a Sydney band, and music by Canberra’s DJ Stavros, as well as a special performance by the Canberra Hellenic Dancers ‘Atalanti’ group.
Attendees were then invited to hit the dance floor, filling the room with kefi, smiles, and a lot of zembekiko and tsifteteli dancing. Plate smashing and flower throwing were also crowd favourites.
HYC President, Olivia Kambouris, said Bouzouki Night featured people of all ages from little kids up until yiayiathes and pappouthes.
“Bouzouki Night is the main event on our event calendar every year and its purpose is to just bring everyone that has a common interest in Greek music and Greek dance together,” Olivia told The Greek Herald.
“It’s definitely marketed towards a younger crowd, but in saying that, it’s an event that all age groups enjoy.”
Being held for more than 10 years now, Olivia said Bouzouki Night has seen increased engagement from the younger Greek crowd post-COVID.
“Within the last few years, we’ve seen so many younger Greeks stepping up and enjoying the event,” she said.
“I think it’s always really positive seeing that newer generation come along, particularly the ones who aren’t quite 18. This is the event that they come to where they can mingle with the older Greek kids and see what it’s like to attend the bouzoukia.”
HYC general director Max Moraitis, who has been attending Bouzouki Night for the last five years, said he loves that after many years of being an attendee, he’s now one of the event organisers on the committee.
“I love going to Bouzouki Night because of the atmosphere and kefi in the room,” Max told The Greek Herald.
“It’s great to see so many of the young kids within our community getting involved as well.”
The highlight for him was watching the Canberra Hellenic Dancers perform.
“They always do such a great job at performing and entertaining the crowd,” Max said.
The HYC president said she hopes events like Bouzouki Night inspire more people to become a part of the youth group.
“Our committee aspires to build engagement within the Greek youth,” Olivia said.
“We heavily rely on the support of our sponsors, and we appreciate their generosity, but we also rely on the community, who is very supportive. We hope that they continue to follow us, be engaged with our events, and pitch ideas of what they want to see from the HYC in the future.”
The Hellenic Youth Club will be holding their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday, 15 December, providing the opportunity for young Canberra Greeks to sign up.
