There was vibrant drumming and rows of colourful prayer flags, but punters needed only to follow their noses to a festival devoted to Himalayan dumplings in Footscray on Sunday.
Food lovers rugged up against the cold and feasted on the smorgasbord that was Momo Fest at the weekend – “momo” being Nepalese for dumpling.
Twenty-one Nepalese and Tibetan eateries from across Melbourne sold momos in a mouth-watering array of stalls at Footscray Park, with fillings ranging from buffalo to goat, paneer (milk curd cheese) and even Nutella.
Every region and often family in Nepal has their own momo recipes, says festival co-founder and co-organiser, Raju Shakya.
Shakya said that in Nepalese culture, serving momos at home was akin to Aussies having a family barbecue.
“Momo is comfort food, and it’s very delicious. People just love it,” he said.
Shakya, originally from the Kathmandu Valley, ate chicken momos with sesame, peanut and garlic chutney on Sunday, while his partner and festival co-founder and co-organiser, Deepa Rai, from eastern Nepal, ate pork dumplings with a spicier tomato and chilli sauce.
Punters ate, danced, socialised, and participated in momo speed-eating competitions and workshops on how to wrap momos.
Bands included the upbeat Newa Pucha Melbourne whose instruments include flute, drums and cymbals and who were accompanied by folk dancers.
The two-day, volunteer-run event coincided with Nepalese New Year, or Naya Barsha, on Tuesday, April 14.
Though the festival began in 2017, it was the first time it had returned since the pandemic after a planned revival in 2024 had to be postponed when Rai suffered a bad fall one day, fracturing her skull and suffering a brain bleed.
Following the accident, the couple gave up their catering business and Shakya has been Rai’s carer ever since.
On Sunday, the couple said it felt good to be back celebrating their culture and food.
Rai was happy to see her friends and to walk around, something doctors feared she would never do again after the accident.
“I’ve lost memory of the past Momo Fests, so I’m trying to create new, happy memories,” Rai said.
In recent decades, Australia’s Nepalese population has soared. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2024, the number of Nepalese-born people living in Australia was 197,800, compared with 1410 in 1996.
Shakya said events like Momo Fest could help Australian-born children of migrants connect with their culture and heritage.
On Sunday, 4-year-old Sehar Singh, of Chadstone, danced happily to the Nepalese band. Her father, Prabdeep Singh, was born in Kathmandu when his Indian parents were living there for work, which is the family’s only link to Nepal.
However Sehar loves the Nepalese snack, said her mother, Bhawna Singh. “We came today mostly for the momos,” Bhawna said.
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