BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT BCI 50 May 2025 | Page 4

INDEPENDENT magazine group HAWKESBURY • HILLS • BLACKTOWN

INDEPENDENT magazine group HAWKESBURY • HILLS • BLACKTOWN

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LOCAL LIFE

Blacktown City Festival celebrates

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Blacktown City is set to mark a major milestone in 2025, as the Blacktown City Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary – five decades of fun, family, and community pride.
What began in 1975 as a small local event has grown into one of the largest and longest-running community festivals in Western Sydney, showcasing the vibrant diversity, creativity, and spirit of Blacktown.
Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Brad Bunting, said the 50-year celebration is an opportunity to reflect on the festival’ s proud history and look
forward to an even brighter future.
“ For 50 years, the Blacktown City Festival has brought our community together,” Mayor Bunting said.
“ It has evolved from humble beginnings into a signature event that attracts thousands of visitors and highlights everything that makes Blacktown City such a diverse and welcoming place.”
This year’ s festival will be bigger than ever, with events throughout May culminating in the Blacktown City Streets Alive and Parade Day on Saturday 31 May 2025 in the city centre.
Streets Alive and Parade Day promises something for everyone: live music, street performers, amusement rides, food trucks,
market stalls, roving entertainers, and family-friendly activities.
In honour of the 50th anniversary, the festival will also feature special exhibitions and storytelling projects, celebrating the people, places, and moments that have shaped the event over the past five decades.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS:
• Grave Secrets Ghost Tour – Saturday 3 May, St Bartholomew’ s Church and Cemetery, Prospect. Built in the 1830s, this historic site sets the stage for a spine-tingling evening of storytelling and ghost-hunting, guided by paranormal experts. This 3.5-hour tour explores eerie tales and colonial-era mysteries and is expected to sell out.
4 ISSUE 50 // MAY 2025 theindependentmagazine. com. au BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT