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Canberra celebrates
with centenary bash

The national capital, Canberra, has celebrated its 100th anniversary with a city-wide, day-long birthday party that attracted thousands of participants.
   Despite jumping the gun by a day, Monday’s centenary celebrations of the 12 March 1913 official naming of the city saw the shores of Lake Burley Griffin erupt in celebrations with the Australian Capital Territory’s Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, describing the occasion as a “once-in-a-lifetime day”.
Capital holds 100-year party

    Ms Gallagher said the event had been years in the planning; with about 500 artists, hundreds of volunteers and 20 cultural groups coming together.
   “The strong community involvement in the day shows that Canberrans have embraced the national capital’s Centenary year,” Ms Gallagher said.
   She said volunteers were the backbone of the operation on the day.
   “About 250 people responded to the Centenary’s call for volunteers to help with the year’s opening events, including the birthday party,” she said.
   Ms Gallagher said that in addition, around 200 Scouts had added their “youthful muscle power” to help with the multitude of manual tasks involved in the day.
   Creative Director of the Centenary of Canberra, Robyn Archer said the day’s excitement levels really heated up after 4pm when all the music stages around the lake went live.
   Ms Archer said it had been a “really original, surprising, and highly entertaining” event.
   “This is the kind of active, colourful, densely populated lake scene that the Griffins may have imagined one hundred years ago,” Ms Archer said.
   A ceremony at the Foundation Stone near Parliament House is to take place today (12 March) to formally recognise Canberra’s foundation and naming exactly 100 years ago.
Edition 352, 12 March 2013
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