Section 8 bar hosts free ‘Orphans’ Christmas’ event
On one of Melbourne’s many streets, the annual Christmas Day tradition is in full swing. But this gathering isn’t your typical family lunch.
For almost two decades, Section 8 has held a free event at the Tattersalls Lane container bar on December 25. It has become a celebration of the local community and the staff take pride in creating a space that welcomes absolutely everyone.
The event, promoted as “Orphans’ Christmas” on social media, has been going on since the bar opened in 2006. This year a barbecue has been promised followed by a full rotation of DJs.
For Eve Eurydice, Christmas is a complicated time of year. As a transgender person, Eurydice said the holidays can be a particularly isolating time.
“[My family] He wanted me to make the whole classic ham and baked potato but… I’d rather be here. “With my real family,” said Eurydice.
“I know the whole team here, I’ve been coming here for years… This is a place where I’m celebrated for who I am. It feels like such a chosen family place.”
Section 8 is an unusual location. It is a small open-air bar, approximately 200 m2 in size, with a capacity of 100 people. Staff serve drinks from inside an old shipping container.
The walls are heavily decorated, lined with colorful murals and lush plants. Punters sit on wooden pallets and beer barrels instead of traditional stools.
Or as venue manager Amelia Enticott describes it: “Chaotic, messy, but beautiful and colorful. Like an oasis in the middle of the city.”
Enticott said the annual party is one of the most popular days of the year. “We want to have a Christmas for the community because without a community we wouldn’t still be here,” he said.
Friends Gracie Pountney and Edie O’Neill are perched on a couch in the sun at the far end of the venue. A Southern Hemisphere Christmas is very different from what they’re used to in Bradford, England.
“It feels like any other day. It’s really weird. Especially since we’re used to minus 10 degrees,” O’Neill said.
Like many other Britons, O’Neill spent December traveling along the east coast of Australia. Pountney has been living and working in Melbourne for seven months.
“It’s nice to have a different Christmas,” Pountney said.
On the other side of the venue, Book Kawin is waiting for a friend to join him. He, who now works in Daylesford but is originally from Thailand, took a two-hour public transport journey to get to the event.
“Yesterday we celebrated [Christmas] with my friends. “So it’s a cold day today,” Kawin said. “I think we’ll stay here. Because many [bars] closed.”
Like every Chapter 8 event, entry on Christmas Day is completely free. Enticott said this is to ensure the space remains welcoming and accessible to everyone.
“It’s the people who come back who love this space as much as everyone who works here… It’s like a family tradition,” he said.
“If you don’t have a home, come and be a part of our home for a day… It’s a family event, but we all come from different families.”
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