Sydney, January 26: The people of Australia are celebrating the Australia Day on Friday, and there is an environment of the festival all around the continent. With many flocking for the Australia Day parade at CBD, others are joining the brigade at Brighton Beach for the 10th Great Australia Day swim.

The official ceremonies planned for the day include the official raising of the national flag at Melbourne Town Hall in Swanston Street of Melbourne. Following the flag hoisting ceremony, there will be the Australia Day parade – showcasing Victoria’s cultural diversity and would feature more than 1,000 participants from around 80 communities and cultural groups, reports The Age. Australia Day 2019: Google Dedicates Doodle 'Celebrating Natural Beauty of the Fitzgerald River National Park'.

After the parade, RACV Australia Day festival would set the mood for celebrations at Kings Domain Garden in Melbourne, with people involving in free family activities, displays from a broad range of community groups and a showcase of vintage and classic cars. The highlights of the festival are food truck parks, and on-stage entertainment from 11 am to 3 pm.

In other parts of the country, similar arrangements have been made. For the entertainment of the people, family-friendly celebrations will start at Harbour Esplanade in Dockyards at 6 pm and conclude at around 9:30 pm with fireworks.

The most amazing attraction for the entire day event is the Bollywood flashmob, scheduled in Victoria’s historic Government House and its garden at around 2 pm on Saturday. Along with this, the Royal Australian Artillery would give a 21-gun salute at the lower Shrine forecourt and an aerial display at around 12:30 pm.

Concluding the day-long celebrations, Aussie folk/pop duo Angus and Julia Stone will be headlining on the AO Live Stage from 6.30pm. Also, AO Sports Film Festival, and a live set by alternative rock singer-songwriter Alex Lahey at the AO Live Stage from 4.40 pm would keep the Australians engage throughout the day.

Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 26, 2019 11:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).