After careful and lengthy consultation with our member associations and choreographers, FOMKUD and the Presidents of the Macedonian Cultural Artistic Associations of Victoria have together decided not to participate in today’s 2026 City of Melbourne Moomba Parade.
After months of hard work by our dancers, choreographers, and everyone involved, this was a difficult and bitter decision. No one is happy with how we’ve been pushed to this point or with the options before us.
As many of you know, the City of Melbourne did not allow us to parade with our flag—the Star of Kutlesh—a symbol representing all Macedonians from all regions of Macedonia.
We are all deeply disappointed by this decision. We carry the Star of Kutlesh in our hearts. The Macedonian community’s passion for the Star of Kutlesh flag is real, powerful and evident in the calls for us to take a stand, resist, and protest.
We hear you, and we understand why.
As leaders within FOMKUD, we feel that passion also and recognise what the flag means to all of us from multiple perspectives. At the same time, we have a responsibility to our dancers and choreographers, who are our children, to keep them safe and protect them from political tensions.
Our children are not a political tool to be exploited by any side of any debate, no matter how “right” we feel we are. Amid all this, we are also Melbournians and part of the broader Melbourne community.
We were all ecstatic at the opportunity to represent our Macedonian heritage, identity, song, and dance to the Melbourne public at the iconic Moomba Parade.
But, if it is a “no” to our flag and identity from our home, the City of Melbourne, then we say “no thank you” to giving up our flag and our identity, we won’t set a self-defeating precedent, we won’t compromise our dancers, choreographers, or cultural artistic associations—we will not attend.
We are heartbroken that we are not allowed to self-determine and represent our Macedonian identity, but we thank the City of Melbourne and the Moomba Organising Committee for considering our appeals regarding the flag decision.
For us Macedonians, participating without our flag would mean compromising a core part of who we are. Cultural expression should be celebrated in full, not restricted. Most importantly, a huge THANK YOU to our dancers and choreographers for your tireless effort that inspired and unified us all.
You have blown us away with what you have achieved. The entire Macedonian community is incredibly proud of you!
To the Macedonian community: we hope you can understand the position we have been forced into and the impossible compromises we have been asked to make. This news is deeply disappointing, especially for our dancers and families who were preparing with such excitement.
Thank you for your understanding, solidarity, and unwavering commitment to our culture and community.
Stay tuned for big things coming soon! Yours faithfully, FOMKUD Victoria 9th of March 2026
