For Atong Thon, a member of Bendigo's South Sudanese community, the festival is an exciting chance to connect cultures.

Last year she was excited to perform a South Sudanese cultural dance with other women.

Read more: South Sudanese community finding peace in Bendigo

This year she's involved with most of the activities at the festival, run by Loddon Campaspe Multicultural Services.

Ms Thon's involvement with LCMS began when she was looking for a place to get cheap driving lessons. Now it's pretty much her second home.

She'd encourage anyone not involved with LCMS to come to the Zinda Festival.

"Australia’s a multicultural country so it’s good to connect with other cultures and get involved in activities like Zinda," Ms Thon said.

"It just brings people together and people from refugee backgrounds … they get to connect and share cultures."

LCMS executive officer Kate McInnes said the 2018 Zinda Festival was the biggest multicultural event ever held in Bendigo.

About 4000 people packed into Rosalind Park for last year's Zinda Night, the festival's main event.

This year it's going to be even bigger, building on that success. The night will feature dancing at a multicultural concert, a multicultural food market, craft, cultural stalls and children's activities.

Read more: Celebrating refugee day over a meal

For Ms McInnes, the Zinda Festival is not just important, it's fun. Last year it was the atmosphere on the night that stood out.

"Everyone was happy, everyone was talking to each other and it was a big multicultural crowd, and it had a celebratory feel," Ms McInnes said.

"What Zinda night in the park’s about is people having fun and celebrating. It’s a big party.

"It’s an opportunity and we want to extend that opportunity not just to our multicultural communities but to everyone in Bendigo."

Zinda Night, Saturday March 16, Rosalind Park, 5-9pm.

Zinda.org.au

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