Albury's QEII Square was a melting pot of cultures on Saturday as refugees from many different backgrounds gathered together to share and celebrate their heritage with the wider community.
Friends Bhumika Dhakal, Asmita Guragai, Anjuli Bhujel, all 18, said the Refugee Week celebration was a chance to perform cultural dances from their homeland of Nepal.
Maintaining that connection to their country-of-origin was important for the girls who emigrated to Australia aged 14, 12, and 14 respectively.
"We came to show off our culture and appreciate the place we were born in," Miss Guragai said.
Edwina Bugge, a settlement case manager with Albury Wodonga Volunteer Resource Bureau, said the theme of this year's event was "unity" and given the isolation of 2020 organisers wanted a big, in-person, festival-like event.
"The importance of events like this is to show that Albury-Wodonga as a community welcomes and encourages people from a refugee background into our community," she said.
"Every year Refugee Week a good reminder of that."
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The day featured food from various cultures, as well as music, performances and dances from different cultural groups which showed off the Border's vibrant and diverse community.
Albury deputy mayor Amanda Cohn and Wodonga mayor Kevin Poulton represented their councils at the event.
The event was organised by both councils and the region's settlement services.
Forward Gonekai, of The Hive, a young drop-in centre, said Refugee Week was about establishing bonds and creating friendships with people beyond your immediate circle, especially with people who might have a different background.
He said it was also showing people what support services were available in the region to help people settle into the community.
"It's all about establishing social connections," he said.
"When people move to a new country, they need to get to know some other people and settle in well in the community.
"It's also about having the community come here to meet other people, because usually ... people tend to keep in their little circles but when you go out there and meet other people, it's good."
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Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
