'Moomba' 1972 - 'Float parade' thru' the city.

The Pallaris Collection contains 16mm colour footage of the Moomba parades in Melbourne from the 1950s to 1970s. Most films were shot by aspiring filmmaker John Christofi Pallaris, while some are credited to Reg Robinson.

Moomba Festival held its inaugural event through the streets and parks of Melbourne on 12 March 1955. The festival was designed as a public cultural event for the city, incorporating a street parade, a carnival and an outdoor art show, among other festivities. Throughout the 1950s to 1970s the grand parade down Swanston Street was at its peak, attracting crowds of hundreds of thousands of people and featuring a stream of decorated floats on flat-bed trucks advertising businesses and community groups, accompanied by marching bands, celebrities, clowns, and performers on stilts. The crowning of Moomba monarchs who lead the parade has been a tradition since 1955.

This 16mm film features footage of the 1972 Moomba parade. Filmed at the intersection of Victoria and Swanston Street, opposite the City Baths, the camera follows the parade on its path through the city towards the Shrine of Remembrance.

That year’s Queen of Moomba, Debra Scott, leads the parade on a large decorative float with a white swan at the forefront, seated on a throne of pink petals. The parade then follows, including entertainers, celebrities and decorated floats on flat-bed trucks and cars, showcasing businesses and community groups. Some of the notable floats include Philippine Airlines, Kyneton Historical Centre, Gemini 12, Warburton Tourist Attractions, Theatres of Moscow, the Gold Coast, and a Chinese dragon dance. Towards the end of the parade, the King of Moomba John Farnham appears in a purple velvet suit seated in a horse-drawn carriage.

Content warning: this film includes brief footage of clown Zig (Jack Perry) in the parade, wearing blackface clown make-up. In 1994 Perry was convicted of sexually assaulting his granddaughter 20 years earlier, and in 1999 Zig and Zag were dethroned from their position as Moomba Monarchs.