the history of the festival
During the late 1970s a group of concerned residents established the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre (NNC) in order to provide community services to local residents. They lobbied for government funding and a space to run the programs and were eventually successful in both areas.
In order to promote Newtown's diverse community and raise both an awareness of the Centre and much needed funding for community programs, the NNC staff decided to organise a 'festival'.
This celebration allowed the community to come together to celebrate its diversity and promote harmony in the area. From this small beginning in 1979 the Newtown Festival has grown enormously and is now very much part of Sydney's calendar of major events.
The Newtown Neighbourhood Centre provides services to the aged, people with disabilities, people with mental illness, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and people on low incomes.
The Newtown Neighbourhood Centre also acts as an information service, providing advice on community and public services, emergency accommodation, aged services, council services, children's services, and a variety of other support services. NNC also providse a community space supporting different social and political groups and activities.