21/09/2026
On behalf of the Bhutanese Australian Community Support Group Albury-Wodonga Inc. (BACSGAW), we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and sincere appreciation to everyone who supported, participated in, volunteered at, performed in, and attended our Multicultural Festival Dashain & Tihar 2026. Your presence, contribution and support made the celebration truly special, meaningful and memorable. It was wonderful to see people from different cultural backgrounds come together to celebrate diversity, share traditions, build friendships and strengthen community connections.
We extend our deepest gratitude to Multicultural NSW, our major sponsor, for the valuable support that helped us bring communities together to celebrate this multicultural event. Your support enabled us to create a welcoming space where people from different cultural backgrounds could come together, celebrate diversity, share traditions, strengthen community connections and build resilience.
We sincerely thank Albury Mayor Kevin Mack for joining us as our honoured guest. We greatly appreciated your time and presence at our celebration. Your participation meant a great deal to our community and helped strengthen the connection between communities across the Albury-Wodonga region.
A heartfelt thank you to STARTTS Albury Wodonga for your continuous support, assistance, and valuable contribution to our Multicultural Dashain & Tihar 2026 event. Your ongoing support for BACSGAW and our wider multicultural community is sincerely appreciated. Your encouragement, cooperation, and willingness to assist our community programs play an important role in helping us bring people together, celebrate our cultures, and create an inclusive and welcoming community.
A very special thank you to Filipino Community Albury Wodonga – Josie Maxwell and her team for joining us and sharing your culture through your wonderful participation and performances. Your presence brought extra colour, energy and multicultural spirit to our celebration. We truly value the friendship and ongoing connection between our communities. Thank you to Glorious Kids Connections for helping children engage through fun activities, and to the Congolese Community Dance Group for their fantastic cultural dance performance. Your vibrant participation added wonderful energy and diversity to our celebration, and we are very grateful for your support. A big thank you to our entire BACSGAW team, volunteers and supporters. BACSGAW is very fortunate to have such dedicated members who consistently support one another through community events, activities and beyond, Despite your work and family commitments, you gave your valuable time and energy to help make this event happen. Every successful community event requires commitment, teamwork and many hours of planning, organising and ex*****on. Without your dedication and teamwork, we would not have been able to achieve this success. Your commitment, patience, generosity and willingness to contribute to our community made a tremendous difference. We are truly grateful for everything you have done. A huge thank you to our wonderful catering team for preparing and serving delicious food for our guests and community members. We have received very positive feedback from community groups. Your hard work helped create the warmth, hospitality and sense of togetherness that are such an important part of our celebrations. We sincerely thank all our participants and performers who made the event lively, colourful and entertaining. A special thank you to Manyata Wagley and Ayusha Magar for your wonderful performances. Your confidence, talent and dedication were wonderful to see, and your performances brought great joy to everyone attending the event. Well done!
We are extremely proud of our Nepali Language School team and students for presenting speeches in the Nepali language. Seeing our younger generation confidently reading and speaking Nepali in front of the community is deeply meaningful. Preserving our language is an important part of preserving our culture, identity and connection to our heritage. We would like to sincerely thank the students, teachers and families who continue to support Nepali language education for our younger generation. Your dedication is helping keep our language and culture alive for future generations.
Recognition of Community Contributions This year, BACSGAW also had the privilege and honour of recognising several individuals whose dedication, leadership and contribution have helped strengthen our community over many years.
BACSGAW Lifetime Achievement Award-Tika Poudyel. BACSGAW was privileged to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Tika Poudyel in recognition of his long-standing dedication, leadership, guidance and service to the Bhutanese community in Albury-Wodonga. Over many years, Tika has continuously contributed his time, knowledge and experience to support community development. His commitment has extended beyond his work and family responsibilities. Through his leadership, guidance and support for younger generations, as well as his continued involvement in community matters, he has made a lasting contribution to the Bhutanese community. This Lifetime Achievement Award recognises his many years of tireless commitment, leadership, sacrifice and dedicated service to our community in Albury-Wodonga.
BACSGAW was honoured to present the Founding Member Recognition Award to Harka Bista. This award recognises his important contribution to the establishment and early development of BACSGAW. Building a community organisation requires leadership, vision, dedication, courage and a strong commitment to bringing people together. Harka helped create the foundation that has allowed BACSGAW to continue supporting families, organising events and activities, and creating a space for the community to come together. Despite his work and family commitments, he remained actively involved in empowering the community and developing resilience. We sincerely acknowledge Harka for his tireless efforts and valuable contributions in helping establish and strengthen our community in Albury-Wodonga.
BACSGAW was also proud to present the Distinguished Community Service Award to Chhabi Goutam. Chhabi has demonstrated continued commitment to serving our community through his involvement in community activities, cultural programs, education and the Nepali Language School. He has consistently contributed his time, knowledge and experience to support community development, often beyond his work and other personal commitments. This award recognises his dedication, reliability, community involvement and valuable contribution to preserving our language, culture and community connections.
BACSGAW was honoured to present the Outstanding Volunteer Award to Kamal Khanal. Volunteers are the heart of every community organisation. Kamal has consistently demonstrated a willingness to contribute his time, energy and effort to support community programs, events and activities, often beyond his work and other commitments. His readiness to help when needed, work alongside others and contribute without expecting anything in return represents the true spirit of volunteering. This award recognises his dedication, generosity, teamwork and outstanding volunteer contribution to our community in Albury-Wodonga. Thank you once again to everyone who joined us in celebrating Multicultural Festival Dashain & Tihar 2026. With sincere gratitude,
The BACSGAW Team
