Over a thousand young Greek Australians filled out Crown Palladium on Sunday 7 September for the annual National Union of Greek Australian Students (NUGAS) Gala Ball.
In what is no doubt the biggest Greek Aussie university student youth event nationwide, the night was full of food and drinks, music, entertainment, luxury, as young Greeks celebrate their heritage and connect with one other.
This year attendees were treated to two bands that covered current and classic Greek songs.
Following the ball, all guests continued the celebrations at an afterparty at Crown’s Therapy Nightclub.
NUGAS Co-Presidents Jamie Gallos and Demi Bourdopoulos and sat down with Neos Kosmos during the night to discuss NUGAS’ goals and the importance of these events.
“We’re here to get people connected first and foremost, and second, just to have a good time. That’s what the youth wants,” said Jamie, who is a member of the Melbourne University Greek Association MUnGA.
“Going forward the narrative is going to change a little bit, because while this is going to be our flagship event, I think we are going to look into how can we culturally attune even more so. How do we do more?”
Demi, who is a part of the Monash Hellenic Students’ Society (MHSS) said they want to get the youth more connected to their culture.
She said that a lot of people say that they feel Greek, but they don’t know how they live it in their daily life.
“So some people do sports, do Greek clubs, other people come to the NUGAS Ball, other people go to Greek school, and that’s where their Greek finishes,” she said.
“So we want to be an organisation that has so many avenues for people to connect to and learn about their heritage and their culture.”
Joining her university group and then NUGAS allowed Demi to stay connected because she was worried that after Greek school, how could lose her connection.
“I felt it would keep me connected, help me make new friends, help me spread our culture and our heritage,” she said.
Jamie added that having been institutionalised by the Greek Community of Melbourne and through the Greek schools, they have been able to “take the ethos of what was then and bring it into what is now” at tertiary level.
Here’s what some of the guests had to say.
Christina Spatharis from RMIT United Society of Hellenes (RUSH) said the ball not only “brings Greek youth together but it’s also a really amazing social setting for new Greek youth to feel like they’re part of something bigger.”
Athena Kokkinakis, also from RUSH, said it’s lots of fun with everyone and they get to have a good time with good company.
NUGAS graduate Larissa was attending her third ball and came along to see what they’re getting up to this year. She said it’s exciting as someone a little bit older, to share Greek culture with everyone.
La Trobe University Greek Society (LUGS) Co-President and ex-NUGAS Treasurer Eleni said it’s always such a great night with Greek dancing and being able to express yourself with your culture and your language.
“That’s really such an important thing to me to be able to keep my Greekness alive in today’s modern age,” she said.
Nicholas Koumides from MHSS and NUGAS committee member, said it’s one of the few events where you get most of the young Greeks in Melbourne brought all together.
“We all love being Greek. We all love each other. It’s really an honour to be part of the community,” he said.
