Food, faith, family and footy - Titans host inaugural cultural evening

The Gold Coast Titans celebrated their inaugural Cultural Evening on Tuesday night with song, dance, traditional food and family.

The evening featured performances from Samoan, Cook Islands, Indigenous and Tongan groups which had all of the players, staff and community members on their feet joining in.

The event was planned by the newly formed Titans Cultural Collective, a cultural advisory group for players, staff and community members.

Gold Coast Titans Chairman Dennis Watt said the night was a great celebration of culture.

“The night was a wonderful celebration of all the cultures which make up the Gold Coast Titans,” Watt said.

“While the players themselves have driven the initiative we are also indebted to community leaders Kevin Dando, Annette Fale and Tonga Lea’aetoa for helping bring to life one of the most memorable events in the club’s history.

“We intend to build on it to keep learning and celebrating our respective backgrounds as we bring everyone together to make ourselves, our families and our communities proud of all that we do on and off the field.

“Nights like these remind us that the things in life that unite us are far greater than those that divide us,” he said.

General Manager of Community and Game Development Renee Cohen said the first Titans Cultural Night was extremely successful.

“It was the first event our newly formed Titans Cultural Collective held and it was a great success,” Cohen said.

“Celebrating culture has always been a really important part of our club, so to have the first Cultural Evening was extremely special.

“It gave us some great insight into the energy that the Club will take into the 2022 season,” she said.