The 5th Melanesian Festival of Arts and Culture to be held in the country, is expected to attract more than one thousand participants from the Pacific.
Apart from cultural and social interaction, it will also foster and strengthen economic and regional cooperation.
Satellite venues will be launched around the country to host the events at the provincial level.
The theme of the festival is ‘Celebrating Cultural Diversity’.
The festival is a sub-regional initiative, aimed at promoting the cultural diversity of Melanesian countries, and is politically connected with the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
This year’s festival will be decentralized to encourage more participation.
Satellite venues will be established in the Southern, Highlands, Momase and New Guinea Islands regions.
The launch in Mt Hagen is the first of the four satellite venues.
It will host all cultural activities for the Highlands region during the festival.
Director for the National Cultural Commission, Dr. Jacob Simet, urged Papua New Guineans not to be complacent about preserving their culture.
He said many of our indigenous cultures are dying out due to globalization.
Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Boka Kondra wants to see that culture is incorporated in the education curriculum, to encourage children to appreciate its value.
The government has released K20 million to fund the festival and the National Cultural Commission is working on a tight schedule to deliver the festival on time.
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