Celebrating Marlborough's many cultures

In amongst the laughter, a hum of busy chatter can be heard, the rise and fall of 15 different languages ebbing and flowing.

As part of the Marlborough Multicultural Centre’s International Language Week celebrations, a morning tea was held this morning.

And the region’s cultural diversity was on show to help mark the special moment.

Marlborough District Council’s Welcoming Communities Coordinator Heather Barnes says she couldn’t be happier with the turnout from communities from around the world who now call Marlborough home.

“Today is a great opportunity to show the cultural diversity Marlborough has, showing the connections our Welcoming Communities programmes create and showing everyone is welcome in Marlborough.

“We thought about how we can International Language Week, and food is a global language”.

Held at the Blenheim Connect Baptist Church, the event gave people from a variety of backgrounds the chance to share part of their culture, with 15 stalls offering a taste of global cuisines.

Marlborough Multicultural Centre’s community connector Osmith Vides Contreras says the event was so popular, some would-be stall holders had to be turned away.

“Last year we promoted this event as a more cultural event with singing and dances, but we decided to shake it up this year and tie International Language Week in with food rather than music.

“Fifteen stalls said yes so fast, we had to turn groups away because we couldn’t fit anymore but we’re keen to have more going forward.

“It’s great to have new ways to bring together our communities from overseas over something as universal as food”.