Sri Lanka was the “Featured Country” or Sponsored Country at the high profile Migrants' Arirang Multi-Cultural Festival, popularly known as MAMF, which is an annual event held in the Republic of Korea. The Embassy organized the event with Gyeongnam Migrant Labor and Welfare Center and MAMF-2019 Promotions Committee, along with the Province of Gyeongnam in the Republic of Korea.
The MAMF is the largest and most diverse multi-cultural festival held in Korea, which represents and profiles Asian culture, cuisine, ethos, entertainment, attractions, attributes and economic and commercial opportunities and vistas, in particular. This event is the 14th MAMF Festival and was attended by well over 200,000 participants, including approximately 3,000 Sri Lankans living and working in different regions of Korea. This was the first ever occasion that Sri Lanka was chosen as the “Featured Country”, thus augmenting and boosting not only future employment opportunities but mostly tourism, economic and commercial activity and enhancement of the image and profile of the country. Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Dr. A. Saj U. Mendis, warmly and cordially welcomed Mayor of Changwon City Huh Sungmoo as well as the Korean dignitaries, Diplomatic Corps, foreign nationals and Sri Lankans.
Sri Lanka as the "Featured Country" and co-host of the Festival, had a highly prominent, patently noticeable and conspicuous presence at the MAMF-2019. The Festival convened all participating nations to one platform and was bustling with people, both young and old, who were representing traditional games, cultural & musical performances and variety of authentic and ethnic cuisine from Sri Lanka and other 15 Asian and East Asian countries. The most amazing and striking factor of the Festival was the diversity and multiplicity of its participants and performers.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka organized a 16-member cultural performance troupe to perform at the MAMF by National Youth Services Council (NYSC) of Sri Lanka, who were flown all the way from Sri Lanka. Several dance performances by NYSC dance troupe, during the three day festival, which delighted and enthralled the art, dance and culture enthusiasts from Korea and from many other countries, including the dignitaries and diplomatic corps, who participated at the multitude of events in the City of Changwon.
The Festival was sponsored by the Ministry of Employment & Labor and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Gyeongsangnam Province, Changwon City of Korea and the Gyeongsangnamdo Office of Education of the Republic of Korea. From the Sri Lankan side, the Festival was sponsored, assisted and supported by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and mostly by the Sri Lankan community leaders and members of the Sri Lankan community in the Republic of Korea as well as by other well-wishers and sponsors.
