SI CONTINGENT TO FIFTH MSG ARTS FESTIVAL LEFT COUNTRY
MSG 5th Arts Festival logo. Photo credit: Facebook.
The Solomon Islands contingent to the fifth Melanesian Festival of Arts has left the country for Papua New Guinea.
Media Officer for the Solomon Islands Contingent, George Hermmings, told SIBC News this week the contingent left on a chartered flight yesterday.
Mr Hermmings said the contingent will first attend the Festival’s official opening, which will be in Port Moresby, tomorrow.
“Contingents of other Melanesian countries will arrive in Port Moresby together with our contingent and everyone will be at Port Moresby for the opening tomorrow and them from Port Moresby some groups will visit different venues throughout Papua New Guinea. I think five main regions will host the festival activities; one is at Mount Hagen in the highlands and the other would be at Lei or other parts of Papua New Guinea and also in Milan Bay Province while Port Moresby is the main venue.”
The Media Officer also confirmed the contingent is 1-hundred and sixty-eight, which also includes officials.
“The Solomon Islands contingent for the festival is 186 members. This comprises of musical groups, cultural groups, artists, shell money makers, weavers and also contemporary band members, so the composition comes from a range of provinces. We have groups from Santa Cruz representing Temotu, another group from Makira Ulawa Province, from Rennell and Bellona, form Malaita, Isabel, Guadalcanal and Western Provinces. So those are the provinces that make up our contingent.”
The theme for this year’s Melanesian Festival of Arts is ‘Celebrating Cultural Diversity’.