Melbourne’s Karen community recently celebrated its New Year, hosted by Parks Victoria at Werribee Park, in Melbourne’s west. 

The Karen are an indigenous people from Myanmar and have been part of the Werribee community since 2009, with many Karen people having also settled in Bendigo and Nhill. 

Karen New Year is celebrated at the end of the rice harvest in late December-early January. This was the third new year to be celebrated at the Werribee Park community garden. 

Karen Elders and young performers from Werribee and Bendigo kicked off a spectacular ceremony with a traditional Don dance. Around 5,000 people attended the celebrations over two days at the park.

Karen leaders spoke of their thanks to Parks Victoria for the organisation’s important role in the community garden and the pathways program which has played a significant role in education, employment and settlement outcomes for local Karen people.

Karen community leader and Parks Victoria ranger Hsar Ju hosted the event. Hsar has worked at Parks Victoria for ten years and is Victoria’s first ranger with a refugee background.

Hsar said the New Year event was a really important part of the Karen year.

“It brings Karen of all faiths together to celebrate our culture,” Hsar said.

“It’s also a significant cultural event that helps pass down traditions and values to younger generations, fostering discipline, cultural preservation, and a sense of shared history.

“It’s part of our identity this is why it’s so important that we teach this to our youth, so they remember who they are,” he said.

The Karen community has been involved in Werribee Park since 2011 when migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia and Parks Victoria formed a partnership to help connect Parks Victoria with its local new and emerging communities.

Parks Victoria Chief Ranger James Brincat said the program keeps growing and has made a significant impact at Werribee Park, increasing its volunteer base from 60 to 200 volunteers a week. 

“The pathways program with the Werribee Parks and Gardens team offers a hybrid of horticulture and environmental land management training,” James said.

“The community gardens have also helped reduce vandalism and theft by increasing visitor numbers at the farm. So well done to the local Werribee Plains team who donated so much of their time to help make the community garden and Karen New Year Event happen,” he said. 

Read more about Werribee Park’s pathways program for young adults from local new and emerging communities, and meet the newest Karen trainee Nay Kaw who is being mentored by Hsar here.

Watch a report on Hsar’s work here: ABC’s Gardening Australia.