The Greeks in Melbourne
Melbourne is known for having the largest Greek community outside of Greece. According to several sources, Lonsdale Street in Melbourne is known as the historical heart of Melbourne's Greek community and therefore known and denoted as the "Greek Precinct". Since 1950 it has been a centre for Greek migrants that started to settle in Melbourne and by 1985 about 75 per cent of the store fronts of Lonsdale Street were taken up by Greek businesses.
Of course, me being half Greek, I felt the desire to check this out and get a little bit of a Greek experience while in Australia!
However, when I entered Lonsdale Street I had a hard time noticing this Greek experience. Although the street signs were in a Greek design, and during the night there are some blue lights as decoration, the amount of Greek shops was drastically low. Almost all of Lonsdale street has now turned into little Asian food shops. The only Greek shops that are left are one little souvenir shop, two restaurants and one pastry shop.
As the Greek precinct was part of our research area, we had several interviews with the remaining shops that was left and we had a talk in the Greek community centre with the executive officer of the Greek Precinct Association. Our findings revealed that there are different opinions about the development of the Greek precinct and the way to which it is heading. The owner of the Greek souvenir shop admitted that the Greek precinct is actually dying and all the Greeks moved to Oakleigh. His business is doing well, but he fears for the future of the Greek precinct. As he states "What’s here will stay, but the glory days are over. We’re the third generation of Greeks. You might say 'pretend Greeks'. There is no Greek experience in the precinct anymore.”
In the contrary, the executive officer of the Greek Precinct Association stated the Greek community is being rebuild again and when asked for tourist development she indicated that they are currently working on experiences for tourists like live events and Greek entertainment. However also she admits that there aren’t as many shops anymore in the Greek precinct as there used to be, as the city is growing and becoming more international. The Greek precinct mainly serves the Greek community.
However, one weekend per year the Greek atmosphere comes back by means of the Greek Festival. While Lonsdale Street doesn’t attract many visitors during the day, during the Greek Festival on the 25th and 26th of February 2017 many visitors were observed, mostly from interstate. By means of authentic food, music, dance and several performances during these festivals, the Greek culture briefly comes back again. Unfortunately, besides the festival, the Greek precinct is mostly there for the Greek community, and doesn't serve a visitor experience (anymore).
The Greek festival at Lonsdale Street (February 2017)
