Moomba history

In 2005, Melbourne’s Moomba Waterfest turned 50. Since it’s establishment in 1955, the festival has become something of an institution, unfolding in the city’s parks, along the streets and on the waters of the Yarra River. The festival is as familiar to post-war Melbourne as the AFL and the Melbourne Cup have been for more then a century. Moomba has touched the lives of millions.

One of the largest and longest running festivals in Australia, Moomba has survived in spite of its critics, and it commands a strong place in the social history of the city.

Moomba has always sought community involvement. In early festivals, post-war migrants typically displayed their ethnicity through traditional costume and performance and in the mid 60s, with a turn towards a more arts-orientated program, Aboriginal, Jewish, Italian and Latvian arts featured prominently. Multiculturalism has been widely accepted since the early 1990s, and from this period particularly cultural diversity has been well represented in Moomba.

For a comprehensive insight into the changing face of Moomba download the commemorative 50 year celebration Moomba History Document, ‘Moomba - A Festival for the People’.

Moomba - A Festival for the People (3.32MB) Please note: this is a large file and will take a considerable amount of time to download over a standard modem connection.