{"id":582498,"date":"2026-04-03T08:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582498\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T08:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:30:19","slug":"australians-mark-good-friday-with-seafood-church-services-and-a-boat-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582498\/","title":{"rendered":"Australians mark Good Friday with seafood, church services and a boat race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australians have gathered across the country to mark Good Friday.<\/p>\n

From special church services to time enjoying the outdoors and seafood-filled lunches, here is how they are spending the public holiday.<\/p>\n

Church services held around the country<\/p>\n

In Brisbane, many people gathered at the Cathedral of St Stephen for the Stations of the Cross Procession.<\/p>\n

The Good Friday tradition follows the symbolic journey of Jesus and is an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of Easter.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Christians take part in a service at the Cathedral of St Stephen in Brisbane. (ABC News: Arianna Levy)<\/p>\n

Brisbane Archbishop Shane Mackinlay used his sermon to encourage kindness this holiday season.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people attended the Good Friday church service at Parramatta’s St Patrick’s Cathedral this morning.<\/p>\n

It was one of many services held across Sydney, including one at St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Cronulla and St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney’s CBD.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The main messages during today\u2019s service were about hope, renewal, and divine light. (ABC News: Jack Ailwood)<\/p>\n

The service commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ and is held on the first day of the Paschal Triduum, a solemn period leading to Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n

The main messages during today’s services were about hope, renewal, and divine light.<\/p>\n

“Lovely seeing everyone coming together as one, especially in the time of now,” one churchgoer said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Good Friday church service gets underway in Parramatta. (ABC News: Jack Ailwood)<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot happening in the world, especially on our home soil as well.<\/p>\n

“There’s never a time like now to be praying for the people who really need our prayers.”<\/p>\n

Those messages will continue throughout the long weekend with many people expected to attend a church service on Easter Sunday.<\/p>\n

In Melbourne’s CBD a large crowd joined a two-hour Stations of the Cross procession through the streets.<\/p>\n

The Way of the Cross was organised by a collaboration of inner-city churches, with those taking part in the walk reflecting on Jesus’s suffering during his crucifixion.<\/p>\n

It began at St Francis’ Church in the north of the CBD and included stops at 14 sculptures telling the story of the Last Supper through to Jesus’s death and resurrection, before coming to an end at St Paul’s Cathedral.<\/p>\n

\"Cross<\/p>\n

The two-hour pilgrimage walk through the streets of Melbourne. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

About 200 of the faithful gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral in Darwin this morning, with some completing a 25-kilometre pilgrimage from the satellite city of Palmerston on foot.<\/p>\n

Speaking before mass, Bishop Charles Gauci said the trek reflected the hardship and need for deep reflection felt by the global community this year, including Northern Territory residents impacted by recent severe flooding.<\/p>\n

“They had to challenge themselves to keep walking and life is a bit of a journey like that,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Good Friday marks the date Christians believe Jesus was crucified by the Romans before rising from the dead two days later. (ABC News: Dane Hurst)<\/p>\n

“When we meet hardship we can’t just go about business as usual, we have to stop and think about what is most important.”<\/p>\n

Father Gauci affirmed that the Catholic Church would continue to play an active role in accompanying and comforting flood survivors and evacuees in the Top End.<\/p>\n

“My message is, you are not alone,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We love you, care for you, and we’ll walk with you throughout this.”<\/p>\n

In Perth, St Mary’s Cathedral was overflowing with worshippers there to witness the Stations of the Cross.<\/p>\n

People sat on the benches and through the back of the church to watch a re-enactment of Jesus’s passion and death.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

St Mary’s Cathedral in Perth was overflowing. (ABC News: Nicolas Perpitch)<\/p>\n

At a packed Blackwood Hills Baptist Church in Adelaide’s south, worshippers engaged in singing and looked on solemnly as a wooden cross was carried to the front of the congregation.<\/p>\n

“The Easter story, Christians believe, is the most important story of all,” pastor Brandon Chaplin said following the service.<\/p>\n

He said the show of faith was set against the backdrop of “a complex, messy and, at the moment, stressful world”.<\/p>\n

“We’re worried about the war but in the person of Jesus we see someone who’s got compassion, empathy and is prepared to suffer,” he said.<\/p>\n

Congregation member Christie Wood said the day was “incredibly special”.<\/p>\n

“We all have issues, particularly now in the current economic climate of the world, it’s really tough. But I think we can take peace from what Jesus has done,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Archbishop Patrick Michael O\u2019Regan at The Monastery at Urrbrae. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)<\/p>\n

A little further north, Catholic Archbishop Patrick O’Regan was at the Monastery at Urrbrae where worshippers gathered in groups for the Stations of the Cross.<\/p>\n

“We come with heavy hearts this Easter, and we also touch into what’s really important, and into that anxiety that people have comes the gift of hope and light,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes anxiety breeds fear and fear puts us into a different place that’s not human, and I guess Easter reminds us we are better than that.<\/p>\n

“It’s a person, the person of Jesus, who has embraced us and brought us to life, and shows us what it is to be human and divine at the same time.”<\/p>\n

Seafood, seafood, seafood<\/p>\n

There were queues of people waiting to get into the Sydney Fish Market at 5am today, many getting up before dawn to grab the freshest fish, oysters and prawns.<\/p>\n

About 60,000 people are expected to visit the market today at its new site, which opened just two months ago, with about 650 tonnes of seafood set to be sold across the long weekend.<\/p>\n

Wollongong resident Moira Allen said she had been coming to the market every Good Friday for the past 15 years.<\/p>\n

\"Sydney<\/p>\n

The Sydney Fish Market is a popular destination on the Easter long weekend. (ABC News: Jak Rowland)<\/p>\n

“It’s a sunrise tradition where we get up early, we sneak out of the house and we come and get all the seafood and do a family lunch every year,” Ms Allen said.<\/p>\n

She was shopping for lobsters, prawns and barramundi, but said her husband did not always stick to the plan.<\/p>\n

“We make a list \u2014 we try to make a list, but my husband goes a bit rogue and then he usually goes around and tries stuff out,” she said.<\/p>\n

Inner-west Sydney local Amy Akiki has been coming to the market for her Easter seafood shop for the past few years, but says she has a soft spot for the old site.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Families began arriving at the markets early on Friday. (ABC News: Jak Rowland)<\/p>\n

“I really like the old one. I think it smells a lot fishier, which I do like,” Ms Akiki said.<\/p>\n

“This one doesn’t have the same energy, but it is really nice.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to go back home, get everything ready and have some lunch for Good Friday.”<\/p>\n

Carmelo Lombardo from Get Fish said the markets opened their doors at about 7am.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Carmelo Lombardo said staff have been hard at work since about 2am. (ABC News: Jak Rowland)<\/p>\n

He said the outlet had ordered twice as much seafood as it normally would for a Friday.<\/p>\n

“You’ll find all that will sell by the end of the day,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Lombardo said shoppers had been loving the new markets, which opened in January.<\/p>\n

Boat race gets underway in Queensland<\/p>\n

In south-east Queensland, the long weekend has been marked by the start of the annual Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race.<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine boats took off from the starting line about six kilometres off the coast of Shorncliffe, north of Brisbane, in pretty dreary, rainy conditions at about 11am.<\/p>\n

However, forecasts for favourable weather mean organisers expect all the boats to arrive in Gladstone by Sunday evening after completing the 308 nautical mile (570-kilometre) journey up the coast of Queensland.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Conditions were a bit dreary for the start of the annual Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race. (ABC News: Steve Cavenagh)<\/p>\n

The annual race is now in its 78th year, having started in 1949 as a “mate’s race” with seven boats setting off.<\/p>\n

Queensland Cruising Yacht Club commodore David Hamilton, who will race his boat Skimmer, said it was the second-oldest race in the country behind the Sydney to Hobart.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got a similar sort of tradition where people line up at a particular time and they take off,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Since the first six boats went to Gladstone as a bit of a mate’s race where they’ve all gone ‘I’ll race you to Gladstone’ it’s taken on a life of its own.<\/p>\n

“Generations of people have been involved in watching or participating in the race now for the last 78 years.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

David Hamilton will be racing on his yacht Skimmer. (ABC News: Lottie Twyford)<\/p>\n

Among the yachts in this year’s race is the Maritimo Katwinchar, which is 122 years old<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spectators will be able to see the yachts at different vantage points, including the Sunshine Coast and the beaches of K’gari (Fraser Island) as they make their way up the coast.<\/p>\n

Tasmania’s big Easter egg hunt<\/p>\n

In Hobart around 2,500 people attended the 14th annual Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation Easter Egg Hunt in Kingston, raising funds for children’s medical research and equipment.<\/p>\n

Community groups and school students were among volunteers who packed 760 kilograms, or 1,200 bags, of chocolate eggs.<\/p>\n

Twelve clues needed to be solved before kids could collect a bag of chocolate Easter eggs, and excitement was rife.<\/p>\n

“[I was] really excited, I couldn’t sleep last night,” said one youngster taking part.<\/p>\n

\"Images<\/p>\n

Enjoying the fruits of the hunt. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n

“Some of [the clues] were quite easy \u2026 but some others \u2026 they were kind of hard,” said another.<\/p>\n

Not too hard for the fastest person to solve all 12 clues though, who volunteers said took just five minutes to collect their eggs.<\/p>\n

Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation chief executive Steph Furler said the money raised would be used to buy new equipment and patient care programs for kids at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\"Images<\/p>\n

Some of the 760kg of chocolate eggs hidden as part of the hunt in Kingston. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n

“[We’re] hoping to raise over $60,000 which we’re on target for, so it’s a fantastic fundraising event,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s also really great to see that Tasmanians are coming out in force to help other Tasmanians who are in need.”<\/p>\n

The egg hunt is a festive tradition which continues to grow in its 14th year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australians have gathered across the country to mark Good Friday. From special church services to time enjoying the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,112962,285310,266256,3172,281817,147254,44,60879],"class_list":{"0":"post-582498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celebrations","11":"tag-church-services","12":"tag-easter","13":"tag-events","14":"tag-good-friday","15":"tag-messages","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-whats-happening"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}