BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

THE much-anticipated yearly festival known as the “Lagoon Festival” returns to Munda attracting both locals and tourists who are eager to see the culture and traditions of Roviana and Western Province.

The festival opened with speeches as guests took turns to say something interesting about the only community driven festival.

In an interview with Island Sun, Adrian Wickham said the festival started in 2009 as a community event that took place annually.

He explained that the tuna industry was the main sponsor back then, but now the festival has its own funding.

Wikham said the festival has now become a community event, driven and administered by communities.

He said the festival is now more attractive and is also a place to be for tourists.

Wickham said Lagoon Festival has two main aims which are to bring communities together and promote culture and tradition.

Chief Principal Officer for Western Province Tourism, Meria Paza said her office fully support events such as the Lagoon Festival as the activities can bring back traditional knowledge, culture and tradition to the younger generation to learn from.

She adds that Western Tourism Division’s support is not only through promoting the event but also by allocating small funding for the event.

Paza said Western Tourism Division also supports local organising committees and communities with necessary funding to host such events.

She highly encourages domestic tourism as people move from one place to another to see the events which is good for the economy.

Paza mentioned that such an event also provides a huge opportunity for women and girls to sell their produce.

“Other communities should also establish their festivals to promote uniqueness of respective resources,” she said.

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