Moomba (also known as the Moomba Festival) is held annually in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia. Run by the
City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...
, it is Australia's largest free community festival. The Melburnian tradition is celebrated over four days, incorporating the
Labour Day
Labour Day ('' Labor Day'' in the United States) is an annual holiday to celebrate the achievements of workers. Labour Day has its origins in the labour union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for ...
long weekend, from Friday to the second Monday in March. Moomba is culturally important to Melbourne, having been celebrated since 1955, and regularly attracts up to a million people, with a record attendance of 3.8 million (2.3 million tourists) set in 2018.
In 2003, the event was renamed ''Melbourne Moomba Waterfest'' and is centred on the
Yarra River
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
The lower stre ...
.
Traditional events include the Moomba parade, crowning of Moomba monarchs, fireworks displays, carnivals in the gardens along the river, river activities including watersports, water floats and the Birdman Rally, as well as live music and bands.
In 2021, the usual Moomba was cancelled by
Melbourne City Council
The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The c ...
, for the first time ever, due to events and issues related to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...
. However "Moomba 2.0" events were held on 5–8 March.
Origins
In 1951, Australia celebrated fifty years of
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
with a parade and the staging of the theatre production ''
An Aboriginal Moomba: Out of the Dark''. In 1954,
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
visited the city for the first time as reigning monarch, and the City Development Association and the Melbourne City Council proposed an autumn carnival to be known as "Moomba". A committee was formed in July, 1954 to organise and fund the event, successfully allocating £10,000 to its inaugural running. Before the event's first year, controversy was created when Labor Councillor Frank Williams resigned from the committee, branding the planned carnival as a "Bourke street joke for the benefit of shopkeepers". A promotional theme song "Come to Melbourne for the Moomba" was written by
Jack O'Hagan
John Francis "Jack" O'Hagan OBE (29 November 189815 July 1987) was an Australian singer-songwriter and radio personality.
Early life
O'Hagan was born as John Francis O'Hagan, in Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne. He was the son of Pat O'Hagan ...
.
Etymology
The festival was originally named ''Moomba'' by organisers in the belief it was a
native word meaning 'let's get together and have fun.' Credit is usually given to
Bill Onus
William Townsend Onus Jnr (15 November 1906 – 10 January 1968) was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, also known for his boomerang-throwing skills. He was father of artist Lin Onus.
Early life and educati ...
, a unionist and member of the
Australian Aborigines' League
The Australian Aborigines' League was established in Melbourne, Australia, in 1933 by William Cooper and others, including Margaret Tucker, Eric Onus, Anna and Caleb Morgan, and Shadrach James (son of Thomas Shadrach James and brother-in-law of C ...
for proposing the term, which he used in a play, ''Aboriginal Moomba'' in 1951. In 1969
Luise Hercus
Luise Anna Hercus , , (16 January 1926 – 15 April 2018) was a German-born linguist who lived in Australia from 1954. After significant early work on Middle Indo-Aryan dialects (Prakrits) she had specialised in Australian Aboriginal languages si ...
glossed the word ''mum'' (rhyming with 'vroom') as meaning 'bottom, rump', and suggested ''mum-ba'' meant something like 'bottom and..', and had been introduced from
Healesville
Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 52 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census.
He ...
usage as a joke. In 1981
Barry Blake
Barry Blake, born 1937, is an Australian linguist, specializing in the description of Australian Aboriginal languages. He is a professor emeritus at La Trobe University Melbourne.
Career
Blake was born in the northern Melbourne suburb of Ascot V ...
analysed the word as combining as ''mum'' (anus) and ''–ba'', a
locative suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
meaning 'at, in, on'. This would give the sense of 'up your bum/arse'.
Onus himself, according to his daughter-in-law, who said she had heard the story from Onus's wife Mary, had picked up the word from a word list of indigenous terms. Some say he did it to get back at the city council for having deliberately upstaged the traditional Labour Day march with a popular carnival. Lin Onus, his son, stated that indeed his father had intended to play a prank in passing on the word with this sense.
Event history
![King of Moomba Crown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/King_of_Moomba_Crown.jpg)
The first Moomba was a 15-day festival officially opened on 12 March 1955 by the
State Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
, Sir
Dallas Brooks
General Sir Reginald Alexander Dallas Brooks, (22 August 1896 – 22 March 1966) was a British military commander who went on to become the 19th and longest-serving governor of Victoria, Australia.
Early life
Brooks was born on 22 August 1896 a ...
. The inaugural programme included a fireworks display, parade, vintage car display, Henley rowing regatta, river floats including a "Lord Mayor's houseboat", cycling race, tennis at Kooyong, concerts including performances by the Victorian Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic choir, crowning of the Queen of Moomba and riverside carnival. 25,000 turned out to watch the inaugural Moomba parade down Swanston Street. The first Moomba was heavily criticised by Melbourne's conservative establishment, including the Anglican Church, which at the time claimed it was hedonistic and embodying social decay. Council responded to the criticism citing that Moomba was intended to be a festival for families and as such is reinforcing family values in society.
One of the popular events associated with Moomba was the ''Herald Sun Outdoor Art Show'' in the
Treasury Gardens
The Treasury Gardens consist of on the south-eastern side of the Melbourne central business district, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Wellington Parade, Spring Street, Melbourne, Spring Street, Treasury Place ...
.
After the 2016 Moomba festival fireworks there was
a large-scale brawl in and around
Federation Square
Federation Square (colloquially Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets built above busy ra ...
in Melbourne's
Central Business District
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, largely between members of two gangs,
Apex
The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to:
Arts and media Fictional entities
* Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe
* Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe
*Apex, ...
and Islander 23.
[Melbourne street brawl blamed on Apex gang after Moomba festival Sunday](_blank)
13 March 2016. ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' Retrieved 18 May 2016
2021 – Moomba 2.0
In 2021 the usual Moomba events were cancelled by Melbourne City Council, for the first time ever, due to COVID-19 restrictions and Victoria's third lockdown in February. The Moomba Parade and the
Birdman Rally
Birdman Rally is a competition where members of the public build home-made gliders, hang gliders and human-powered aircraft, ranging from very serious aircraft to mere costumes, leap from a river– or sea–side jetty, or from a bridge, and com ...
were already cancelled.
Instead of the normal festival attractions, Lord Mayor
Sally Capp said Moomba 2.0 will be: "... a series of fun, family friendly events and attractions across the city that will help bring the buzz back to Melbourne." There will be ticketing and COVID-safe marshals across all sites. Moomba 2.0 will be a COVID-safe event.
Events
Parade and floats
A parade (or "procession") and floats through the streets of Melbourne have been a key part of the Moomba festival since its beginning. Each year it attracts over 100,000 people to Melbourne's city centre as well as being shown on free-to-air television in Melbourne.
The first Moomba procession was held in 1955. It was first
televised
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
in 1957, the year after the Melbourne
1956 Olympics.
![Snuff Puppets Moomba Parade 2001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Snuff_Puppets_Moomba_Parade_2001.jpg)
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 and are usually from
sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
(of which Melbourne has six),
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
s and community groups. They also promote some aspect of the
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
s, like singing, dancing, or design. Swanston Street is the traditional home of the floats and spine of the city and horse- or tractor-drawn floats use the
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
tracks. Decorated trams are sometimes also featured.
In 2001, the parade came under media controversy when a French Troupe and Melbourne's
Snuff Puppets
Snuff Puppets is an Australian puppet theatre company founded in 1992. They combine elements of puppetry, live music, visual and physical theatre to tackle taboo topics and make political satire.
History
Snuff Puppets originated in Canberra as ...
had floats with naked people covered in body paint.
Moomba monarchs
The Moomba monarchy has been one of the most celebrated and controversial components of the festival over the years.
[Craig Bellamy, Gordon Chisholm, Hilary Eriksen (17 February 2006) ''Moomba: A festival for the people.'': http://www.craigbellamy.net/images/moomba.pdf PDF pp 17-22]
In 1999 the tradition ended when clowns
Zig and Zag were appointed. After it was revealed that, years before, Zig (Jack Perry) had pleaded guilty to child molestation, they were dethroned. In 2010 the tradition was finally restored after 11 years with
Molly Meldrum
Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum AM (born 29 January 1943) is an Australian music critic, journalist, record producer and musical entrepreneur. He was the talent co-ordinator, on-air interviewer, and music news presenter on the former popular mus ...
and
Kate Ceberano
Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song " Pash" received a gold ...
being named King and Queen of Moomba
, align=center , 2022 , ,
Peter Hitchener
Peter Donald Beauchamp Hitchener OAM (born 21 February 1946) is an Australian television presenter. He has been the chief news presenter for GTV-9 of their flagship bulletin '' Nine News Melbourne'' since 1998, and prior to that was the weekend ...
and
Fifi Box
Fiona Box is an Australian radio broadcaster, television presenter and actress.
Career
Box's early career was spent in regional Australia working at stations 2MC/ROXFM Port Macquarie, 3TR Traralgon and 3GG Warragul.
In 2000, Box co-hosted a la ...
, - style="background:#FFE0C0"}
''Queen of Moomba'' (1955 to 1987) from Beverley Stewart to Marita Jones.
Won by a beauty pageant competition. 1966 Moomba Queen Erica McMillan was killed in a car accident seven weeks after the festival, in the car which she had received as a prize for being voted Queen.
''Queen of the Pacific'' (1967–1977) from Betty Lim Saw Yim (as ''Princess of Malaysia'') to Lei Maa (''Princess of Hawaii'').
''King of Moomba'' (1967 to 1987): British actor
Robert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...
(1967), British actor
Alfred Marks
Alfred Edward Marks OBE (born Alfred Edward Touchinsky; 28 January 19211 July 1996) was a British actor and comedian. In his 60-year career, he played dramatic and comedy roles in numerous television programmes, stage shows and films. His self- ...
(1968), Italian opera singer
Tito Gobbi
Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation.
He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's ''La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major opera ...
(1969), featherweight boxing champion
Johnny Famechon
Jean-Pierre Famechon (28 March 1945 – 4 August 2022) was an Australian featherweight boxer.
Famechon was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Moderns category and was the third to be elevated to Legend status ...
(1970), Russian clown
Oleg Popov
Oleg Konstantinovich Popov (russian: Олег Константинович Попoв, 31 July 1930 – 2 November 2016) was a Soviet and Russian clown and circus artist. People's Artist of the USSR (1969).
Early life
Popov was born on 31 July 19 ...
(1971), pop singer
Johnny Farnham
John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...
(1972) with Collingwood footballer
Lou Richards
Lewis Thomas Charles "Lou" Richards, (15 March 1923 – 8 May 2017) was an Australian rules footballer who played 250 games for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1941 and 1955. He captained the tea ...
as his ''Jester'', indigenous Pastor
Sir Douglas Nicholls
Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering ...
(1973), ballet dancer
Sir Robert Helpmann
Sir Robert Murray Helpmann Order of the British Empire, CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he j ...
(1974), entertainer
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...
(1975), entertainer
Barry Crocker
Barry Hugh Crocker (born 4 November 1935
Official Barry Crocker website) is an Australian character actor, televisio ...
(1976), Disney character
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
as ''King of Moomba'' and TV Personality
Ugly Dave Gray
Graham David Taylor (born 26 December 1933), known better as Ugly Dave Gray, is an English Australian actor, television personality, comedian, game show host, and radio host.
Early life
Born Graham David Taylor, he transposed his first and mid ...
as a ''Jester'' (1977), first Melbourne born king, entertainer
Bert Newton
Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and presenter. Newt ...
(1978), entertainer
Graham Kennedy
Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...
(1979), TV actor
Paul Cronin
Paul Cronin (8 July 1938 – 13 September 2019) was an Australian actor who played roles in the Australian television series '' Matlock Police'' and ''The Sullivans''. He won the Silver Logie five times, including three years consecutively fr ...
(1980), Lou Richards again but this time as King (1981), film, TV and stage actor
Frank Thring
Francis William Thring (11 May 1926 – 29 December 1994) was an Australian character actor in radio, stage, television and film; as well as a theatre director. His early career started in London in theatre productions, before he starred in Ho ...
(1982), TV Personality
Daryl Somers
Daryl Paul Somers (né Schulz; 6 August 1951) is an Australian television personality and musician, and a triple Gold Logie award-winner. He rose to national fame as the host and executive producer of the long-running comedy-variety program '' ...
(1983), footballer
Kevin Bartlett (1984), TV Personality
Ian "Molly" Meldrum (1985), motor racing driver
Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, a ...
(1986) and champion doubles tennis player
Paul McNamee
Paul McNamee (born 12 November 1954) is an Australian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player and prominent sports administrator.
Tennis career Juniors
In his hometown, McNamee won the boys' singles tournament at the 1973 Australian Open.
...
(1987).
Another source lists Gobbi (1968), Marks (1969) and Richards as ''Jester'' (1971).
''Young Ambassador'' (2003–2009): Carrie Stoney, Sam Quinn, Alan Wu,
Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Natalie Bassingthwaighte (; born 1 September 1975) is an Australian recording artist, actress, and Celebrity, television personality. Born and raised in Wollongong, New South Wales, she began her career in musical theatre. She later pursued an ...
and
Trisha Broadbridge.
From approximately 19811988 there were also instances where Moomba included a Prince and Princess of Moomba designation consisting of two children chosen through a competition held by local radio station
3KZ.
Fireworks
Fireworks are a big part of the Moomba festival and large displays occur on every night of the festival. The fireworks are above the Yarra river.
Carnival
A traditional
carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
including a
ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...
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 dog
A corn dog (also spelled corndog) is a sausage (usually a hot dog) on a stick that has been coated in a thick layer of cornmeal Batter (cooking), batter and Deep frying, deep fried. It originated in the United States and is commonly found in Ameri ...
s and
doughnut
A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...
stands line the paths.
River activities
Moomba particularly celebrates the
Yarra River
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
The lower stre ...
, which has been much maligned during the history of the city until the last few decades.
Water skiing
Water skiing
Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...
in the Yarra was introduced to Moomba in 1959. The tournament has both Junior and Open divisions, with the finals crowning the
Moomba Masters Champions on Moomba Monday.
River floats
The festival has featured Chinese dragon boats and the Moomba Showboat.
Birdman rally
Among the more popular events is the ''Birdman Rally'', begun in 1976,which is traditionally held at the Swan Street bridge over the
Yarra River
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
The lower stre ...
. However it has been held only intermittently during Moomba's history. It was stopped for a number of years due to high levels of
E. coli contamination of the Yarra. Subsequent clean-ups reduced pollution to acceptable levels and 2004 saw its return. In 2005 the rally was held in the new inner city park,
Birrarung Marr, close to its traditional location.
Music and live bands
![Kimbra, 2011 Moomba Festival](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Kimbra%2C_2011_Moomba_Festival.jpg)
Moomba's performers have included international musical acts such as
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...
,
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
and
AC/DC
AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...
as well as a number of smaller local acts.
In 2012, performers included
Tex Perkins
Gregory Stephen Perkins (born 28 December 1964), better known by his stage name Tex Perkins, is an Australian singer-songwriter who fronted the Australian rock band The Cruel Sea, but has also performed with the Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, James B ...
and
Daryl Braithwaite
Daryl Braithwaite (born 11 January 1949) is an Australian singer. He was the lead vocalist of Sherbet (1970–1984 and many subsequent reunions). Braithwaite also has a solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including t ...
.
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
Other reading
Eckersley, M. 2012. 'Australian Indigenous Drama'. Tasman Press. Altona.
External links
Melbourne City Council's Moomba pageSocial history of Moomba on Culture Victoria
Snopes.com entry on the word "Moomba"Also see the official Moomba history book written by Dr Craig Bellamy et al. (2006)
{{Melbourne events
Festivals in Melbourne
1955 establishments in Australia
Music festivals established in 1955