MELBOURNE – Thousands of people lined Melbourne’s Swanston Street on Thursday to watch the vibrant and colourful Australia Day parade.

The annual parade, which immediately followed the morning Flag Raising Ceremony, featured more than 80 community and cultural groups.

About 100 people from the Vietnamese Community Association (VCA) in Victoria participated in the city’s parade.

They wore an array of traditional clothes and held the flags of the Australian and Vietnamese Co Vang.

The MC at the event said that the VCA was an organisation which helped the Vietnamese community successfully settle in Australia and added that Vietnam is a beautiful country, attracting lots of tourists to go over and visit.

– TiVi Tuan-san