The official launching of the 5th Melanesian Festival of Arts and Culture was held in Mt Hagen over the weekend.
Mt Hagen will be the satellite venue for the highlands regions when the festival will be held for everyone from the highlands region to see and participate.
Minister for Tourism Arts and Culture Boka Kondra flew into Mt Hagen on Saturday morning and visited the Kuk Heritage Centre before launching the festival at the Highlander Hotel in the evening during a cocktail function.
Unfortunately for WHP, the Governor and the provincial administrator were not present during the launching.
Kondra said during the launching that the 5th Melanesian Festival of Arts and Culture is an avenue where the Melanesian people comprising member states like Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu will converge to participate in various cultural and social activities.
The minister said it is expected that Timor Leste, West Papua and the Torres Strait Islands may also participate in the festival.
“This will enable the people to interact and exchange ideas and perceptions of one another, fellow Melanesians sharing common expectations and purposes,” Kondra said.
He said Mt Hagen will be the satellite town for the Highlands region where different cultural groups from the Melanesian countries will perform and show their culture.
“While our different cultural groups will also perform for them to see,” Kondra said.
He said four towns in each of the four regions have been selected as satellite venues for the festival to take place so that everyone throughout the country may see.
“The festival has always been held in Port Moresby in the previous years and this has not allowed many of the Papua New Guineas to see or participate,” the Minister said.
“It is therefore fitting that we extend this participation to other centers such as the satellite venue representing the four regions of the country.”
The festival will be held from June 28 to July 11 this year.
SUVA, 2 (POST COURIER)
