Moomba
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- For the fictional creature, Moomba, from the final fantasy series, see Races of Final Fantasy.
For the town in South Australia, Australia, see Moomba, South Australia.
Moomba is an annual festival in the city of Melbourne, Australia and one of the largest and longest running festivals in Australia. Moomba is celebrated during the Labour Day long weekend (the first Friday to the second Monday in March), and has been celebrated since 1955. In 2003, the event was renamed Melbourne Moomba Waterfest. It is a family festival run by the City of Melbourne Council.
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Origins of Moomba
In 1951, Australia celebrated fifty years of Federation with a parade and the staging of the theatre production "An Aboriginal Moomba: Out of the Dark". The following year, the final Labour Day procession was held in Melbourne. In 1954, Queen Elizabeth II visited the city in her first appearance a reigning monarch and the City Development Association and the Melbourne City Council proposed the Moomba Festival. The first festival was officially opened in 1955.
Moomba Events
Parade & Floats
Floats through the streets of Melbourne have been a key part of the Moomba festival since its beginning. The floats have an annual theme, usually an elaboration on "Let's get together and have fun", the avowed mission and vision statement of Moomba. The floats are usually from sister cities (of which Melbourne has six), schools and community groups. They also promote some aspect of the arts, like singing, dancing, or design. Swanston Street is the traditional home of the floats and spine of the city and horse or tractor-draw-floats use the tram tracks. Decorated trams are sometimes also featured.
The first Moomba parade was televised in 1957, the year after the Melbourne 1956 Olympics.
In 2001, the floats came under controversy when some contained representations of nude people.
King of Moomba
Part of the festivities include the crowning of a King of Moomba. Past kings have included Robert Morley (1967), John Farnham (1972)and the first Melbourne born king - Bert Newton (1978). In 1999, the King of Moomba tradition ended.
Fireworks
Fireworks are a big part of the Moomba festival and large displays occur on the opening and closing nights of the festival.
Carnival
A traditional carnival including ferris wheel are held in the Alexandra Gardens along the river bank. In recent years, the carnival has extended to Birrarung Marr across the river. It is popular with children, and dagwood dogs and doughnut stands line the paths.
Bands
Moomba's performers have included acts such as ABBA, Neil Diamond and ACDC.
River Activities
Moomba is somewhat a paradox in that it celebrates the Yarra River, a river that has been much maligned in the history of the city until only recently.
Waterskiing
Water-skiing in the Yarra was introduced to Moomba in 1961.
River Floats
The festival has featured Chinese Dragon Boats and the Moomba Showboat.
Birdman Rally
Among the more popular Birdmen event, the Birdman Rally, which traditionally adds colour to the festival and is traditionally held at the Swan Street bridge, a location that also featured in the 2006 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony as part of the Queens Baton Relay.
Beginning in 1976, the infamous Birdman event has been run on and off during Moomba's history.
More recently the event was stopped due to high levels of ecoli contamination of the Yarra.
2004 saw the return of the famous Birdman Rally to Melbourne Docklands.
Subsequent cleanups reduced pollution to acceptable levels and in 2005, the rally was held close to its traditional location in the new inner city park, Birrarung Marr.
Origins of the Name Moomba
The official translation is "let's get together and have fun."
A local urban legend claims that the word "Moomba" means arsehole in the local Aboriginal dialect. The phrase has allegedly been etymologically traced to the phrase "up your bum" in this dialect, and has been reported as such by some newspapers, however, this finding is inconclusive.