by Alberto Macchione
As a part of their Harmony Week celebrations, the City of Ryde hosted a ‘Cultural Connection, Harmony Week, Special Italian Celebration’ in addition to events featuring some of the other prominent cultures within the North West Sydney Local Government Area.
Harmony Week is a celebration, honoured this year from Monday 16 to Sunday 22 March 2026, that recognises cultural diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds. It endeavours to foster inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone and can be acknowledged by wearing or adorning yourself with something orange in colour.
The Ryde Italian celebration was held in Ryde Library and featured a packed program including mask making for children, briscola (Italian Card games), and a bilingual storytime for children. The event was opened by the charming and fashionable Italian Australian songstress, and local institution, Roseanna Gallo OAM. Roseanna’s endearing personality and wit was woven between classic Italian favourites such as opening song, ‘Volare’.
The centre piece of Roseanna’s set was the poignant migrant song Lárce di Noe which has been described as “reflecting on humanity’s struggle to find belonging in a chaotic and indifferent world” and can also eloquently describe the struggle of those who boarded ships to forge a new life in Australia during Australia’s great migrations.
The show finished with classic folk song, ‘Çé’La Luna Mezz’o Mare. Roseanna had the audience eating out of her hand. The crowd were clapping and waving their hands from side to side to the rhythm of the music in a joyous celebration of Italian culture.
Following on from the musical segment of the afternoon was Author and local Italian historian, Angelina Bonifacio who presented a brief history of Italian settlement and foundation as captured in her book, Óne Way Ticket’. Bonifacio followed the Italian migration “which predated the first fleet” stating that the first Italians to arrive in Australia were James Matra and Antonio Ponto on board ‘The Endeavour’.
Angelina said that the book (One Way Ticket) “is an intimate anthology [that] reveals hardships, language barriers, discrimination, internments and much more, but none of these setbacks would deter the migrants to work hard and provide for their families at all costs to succeed and add value to the country of residence.” With intimate details of family history and their roles in helping grow Australia’s industry, the audience learnt much about the local and broader history of the Italian contribution to growth. She spoke of Farmers, Tailors, Shoemakers, Hairdressers and gave detailed histories of how some of these businesses went from small beginnings such as one truck into a national trucking network that services Australia today.
The Special Italian Celebration also featured free Italian biscotti, food demonstrations and a special feature on Commedia Dell’Arte, giving grandparents, parents and children alike an exciting day of Italian themed multi media and culture sharing.
