More than 13,000 people flocked to Earlwood on Saturday for the 2026 Love Earlwood – Meet you at the Plateia festival, a record attendance for the second annual celebration of our local Greek, Italian and Mediterranean communities.

The turnout capped off a hugely successful event, which transformed Clarke Street and surrounding laneways into an open-air marketplace, complete with traditional cuisines and colourful performances honouring the suburb’s generational Mediterranean communities.

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said this year’s record number of festivalgoers demonstrated how strongly Earlwood and surrounding Canterbury-Bankstown suburbs had embraced the event.

“To see 13,465 people come together in the heart of Earlwood was incredible—it speaks to the pride, culture and connection that make this community so special, and a showcase of multiculturalism at its best,” Mayor El-Hayek said.

“For what was a fantastic afternoon of celebration, all I can say is opa!”

This year’s expanded festival footprint extended to Lewins Street, with visitors enjoying an additional hour of trading and a significantly larger precinct filled with food, entertainment and cultural showcases, including performances from the Sydney Greek Dancing School, Italian Village Dancers and Flamenco Ensemble.

Roving bouzouki and accordion players kept the atmosphere lively and upbeat, while Sydney Performance Muscle Car Club brought the thunder with four-wheel classics to delight enthusiasts.

Special thanks to our MC comedian James Liotta for keeping the hilarity flowing, the many stallholders and local businesses that lined the streets, and to the incredible Council staff who made this year’s Love Earlwood such a hit.