PENRITH City Council’s 2026 street events calendar kicked off in St Marys this year with the newly scaled-up, two-day St Marys Culture Fusion event, taking place in St Marys Town Centre.

The event, previously held in Lang Park over one day, was able to increase its footprint thanks to funding from the NSW Government. Multicultural NSW funding allowed Council to increase the scale of the event, utilising Queen St and more of the town centre, without creating a significant burden to ratepayers.

Council’s event hosted a fashion show, performances from multiple cultures, curated market stalls, and a selection of food from around the globe.

The event also overlapped with Mother Language Day, on Saturday the 21st of February.

Despite the weekend’s oppressive weather conditions, thousands turned out to Queen St from St Marys and elsewhere to enjoy the stalls and performances.

Deputy Mayor Garion Thain, a lifelong St Marys local, opened the event and said the enthusiasm from locals was “great to see.”

“It’s always great to see activations in St Marys Town Centre like this – our locals turn up,” said Cr Thain.

“The Council staff really did a fantastic job this year, and I’m grateful to the NSW Government as well for their support. It’s great to be able to deliver events for people to enjoy in Penrith.”

“Having lived in St Marys for almost three decades, I’ve always known Aussies from different backgrounds here and everyone’s always celebrated who they are and had a go,” he continued.

“All the celebrations and the stalls here are a positive example of how we can approach community events.”