BY LYNTON AARON FILIA
SOLOMON Islands will host the 2018 Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival to coincide with the country’s 40th anniversary.
The Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival (MACFest) will kick-start on July 1 and run till July 14, and it will coincide with the country’s 40th anniversary.
According to Visit Solomon Islands, more than 2,000 delegates from the five MSG countries will be attending the event.
This includes delegates from West Papua, Timor Leste and the Torres Straits Islands with West Papua granted observer status when the MSG countries leaders meet officially while in Honiara, the Visit Solomon Islands said.
Taking place once every four years, MACFest is a major cultural event for the five countries comprising the Melanesian Spearhead group (MSG) – Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
The event will spearhead the Solomon Islands’ cultural festival calendar which will this year feature the following events:
June 14-15: Wagosia Spear throwing festival, Santa Catalina, Makira Province
August 7: 76th Anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal, Honiara
August 13-15: Shell Money Festival, Langalanga Lagoon, Malaita Province
September 20-28: Roviana Lagoon Festival, Munda, Western Province
October 2-6: Solomon Islands Dive Festival, Guadalcanal & Central Province
October 31 to November 1: The Great Western Fishing Tournament, Vona Lagoon, Western province
