Dr. Farvardin Daliri established the Townsville Cultural Festival in Queensland, Australia, 26 years ago to celebrate diversity and acceptance through “dance, music, food, and fun.”
After all this time, Farvardin is still significantly involved in the organization. While he’s been meaning to build a massive kookaburra bird float for this year’s event in August, the bushfires and the novel coronavirus pandemic have left many of his neighbors feeling down. So he decided to lift their spirits!
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“Things have gone from bad to worse… and the laughter from the world has been wiped out,” he said. “So I wanted to make something out of the ordinary to cheer us up, relieve our stress, and make us optimistic.”
He couldn’t think of a better way to do so than building an impressive sculpture! Farvardin has a Master of Fine Arts, which he’s put to good use in previous years by creating giant masterpieces like a koala and “mother earth.”
In 2020, he spent five months putting together a kookaburra. He crafted the bird’s frame out of steel rods before covering it with materials to give it a lifelike feathery look.
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By the time he was finished, the kookaburra was more than 14 feet high and had an actual laugh!
“Laughter is therapeutic and a kookaburra’s laugh is contagious,” Farvardin said. “Everyone joins in, and I want to drive around to cheer up the whole town.”
That’s exactly what he did! As he took his new friend around his neighborhood (attached to a trailer behind his truck), the bird caught everyone’s attention and brought smiles to countless faces.
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What a great way to bring his community joy during this difficult time! We can’t wait to see what he puts together next.
Try not to laugh as you watch the kookaburra in action in the video below, and don’t forget to share this story with your friends.
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