The Paniyiri Greek Festival has been recognised with a Queensland Community Spirit Award, honouring its five decades of contribution to the state’s cultural life and community identity.
The award was presented on Queensland Day during a gathering of more than 100 leaders from Queensland’s live events sector, who came together in Brisbane to celebrate the state’s birthday and recognise organisations that have made a lasting impact on their communities.
Paniyiri was one of five recipients acknowledged for their contribution to Queensland’s social and cultural fabric, alongside the Cairns Show, Logan City Council, Brisbane live music venue Crowbar, and respected music journalist Lars Brandle.
The recognition comes as Paniyiri celebrates its 50th anniversary, a milestone that reflects the festival’s evolution from a community gathering into one of Australia’s largest and longest-running Greek cultural festivals.
For the Greek Australian community, the award represents recognition not only of Paniyiri’s longevity but also of the thousands of volunteers, performers, community groups and organisers who have helped build the festival over the past five decades.
Since its beginnings in Brisbane’s Greek community, Paniyiri has become a flagship multicultural event, attracting tens of thousands of visitors annually and showcasing Greek food, music, dance, language and traditions to audiences from across Queensland and beyond.
Accepting the award on behalf of the festival was Paniyiri representative Wendy Lacey.
Hosted by Oztix co-founder Stuart Field, the Queensland Day event brought together leaders from across the live music, sporting, venue, agricultural show and events sectors to discuss the future of Queensland’s live events industry ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“This Queensland Day conversation brings leaders from across our events sectors to explore how we can work more effectively with government and unlock the next phase of growth for live events in this state,” he said, adding that the live events sector was entering a defining period of growth and opportunity.
