‘Transport yourself into someone’s culture’: Converge on the Goulburn bringing the community together

“You step out of the place that you’re living and transport yourself into someone else's culture through whatever; like performances, food, or even talking to someone,” master of ceremonies Neha Samar said.

It was Ms Samar’s first time as MC for the festival, which she was nervous about, but she said she wanted to do it to better represent women of colour.

“You can’t be what you can’t see; when I see any woman taking on powerful roles you might not expect, I feel empowered, and when I see brown women it just knocks it out of the park,” she said.

“Maybe if they look at me, they can come towards the stage and see what's going on.”

Shepparton Festival creative director Jamie Lea said the event was a great way to promote positive parts of the town and connect with the community.

“People come to give, they perform to give, they cook to give, and to connect,” she said.