By Gary Hatigeva
THE Local Organising (LOC) of the Melanesian Arts and Crafts Festival (MAC Fest) 2018 has confirmed that four countries have been invited to participate in the upcoming event in July, with the inclusion of Indonesia’s Melanesian region, West Papua.
Organizers revealed that the West Papuan people will be represented by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), who is also recognised by the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) as an observer.
The others includes Australia’s Torestrait islanders, Timor Leste, known to many as East Timor, and cultural groups from the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The LOC revealed that all participating cultures and countries are given a limit of at least 150, but suggested that all will exhaust the number.
Honiara is therefore, according to the LOC, expected to host around 2,000 participants representing the mixture of Melanesia and other invited guests, with Solomon Islands to have the highest members.
Locally, individuals will be part of delegates from both here in the capital and the provinces.
