About Perth's Traditions

Although not Australian, religious festivals such as Christmas are widely supported. Christmas takes place on December 25th, which is summertime in Australia so people often spend part of Christmas day with their families at the beach. Of course Santa Claus looks a bit inappropriately dressed in his North Pole attire in the heat of summer and it may also be quite strange hearing people sing about a white Christmas in the 40 degree temperature but interestingly enough, one popular Australian song claims six white boomers or large kangaroos pull Santa s sleigh. Christmas dinner is likely to be salads, cold meat, and plum pudding while the traditional Christmas turkey is proving a little unsuitable for the hot weather and so is being gradually replaced by seafood as the Australian traditional Christmas fare. Even the Christmas tree is finding itself being affected by the hot weather in Australia.

While in the northern hemisphere the Christmas tree is of great importance due to the amount of time families have to spend indoors around it, in Australia, families spend more time outdoors on verandas and barbecue areas where the tree never seen. As a result, the tree is often a stringy shrub that has been included for token value. With so much time spent outdoors, Australian strongly associate Christmas with sports. Christmas is followed by Boxing Day which marks the beginning of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. Tens of thousands of Aussies will flock to see the yachts begin their 628 nautical mile journey to the Apple Isle. In the following week, Australians all along the south east seaboard will gaze across the ocean to see them go by. In Melbourne, up to 10,000 people will head for the MCG to wee the opening day of test Cricket. While some will be there to enjoy the summer sun and others because they are seriously interested in cricket, most will be there because it is Boxing Day tradition.

After Boxing Day comes New Year's Eve. Being in the heat of the Australian summer, this is likely to be spent outside under some fireworks, in a park, on the beach or standing on a crowded street outside an even more crowded nightclub. With regards to homegrown traditions, the most notable are Melbourne Cup and ANZAC Day. Considering that that Australia's top three heroes are a cricketer, a bushranger and a racehorse, perhaps it is only fitting that the only time the nation stops, as one is to have a wager on a sporting pastime. The discovery of gold in 1853 led to a huge influx of gamblers to Australia's shores. Traditionally, if the diggers struck it lucky on the goldfields, they would head for the track to see if the luck would continue.

The Victoria Turf Club staged the first Melbourne Cup in 1861 and by 1866, the Government had proclaimed the day a public holiday. The race is run over the unusually long distance of 3200m, it may have up to 30 starters and the favored horses are handicapped with extra weight. Although knowledge of the form is still a prerequisite, the many variables make picking a winner a case of pinning the tail of the donkey. The most successful method seems to be whether it has a good name or not. Although it is only a public holiday in Victoria, around the country businesses close for the day for everyone to be a part of the holiday. Although ANZAC Day (Dawn Service) has been around for a long time, its mainstream popularity is a recent phenomenon. Anzac Day begins solemnly. During battle, dawn was one of the most favored times for an attack as the half-light played tricks with soldiers' eyes.

Therefore, soldiers were awoken in the dark, so that by the time the first dull grey light crept across the battlefield, they were awake and alert. The fresh light instilled a sense of optimism for the new day tempered by the fear that it could be their last

When the soldiers returned home, the first light of the morning would once again remind them of their experiences and they sought out the company of those who could understand. On 25th April 1923 at Albany in Western Australia, the Reverend White led a party of friends in what was the first ever observance of a dawn service. It wasn't until 1927 that the first official service was held at the Sydney Cenotaph.

A central feature of the Anzac Day service is a paragraph taken from the poem 'Ode for the Fallen'.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

The poem neither attributes right or wrong nor does it glorify war as the liberator of freedom. It simply articulates what the war meant to those who were involved in it.

For decades, families and young people were not welcome at these dawn services but in recent times, they have been encouraged to take part. They have also been encouraged to take part in marches wearing the war medals of deceased relatives.

In 1998, eligible Turks in Australia were allowed to march for the first time. For the Turks, it was the culmination of two decades of campaigning as they tried to bring the spirit of friendship out of the catastrophic loss of life. It was also their way of implementing the wisdom of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, their first president and mastermind of the Turkish resistance in the Gallipoli campaign, who said: "Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well."