Sri Lankans mark new year with traditional games, tolerance run
dubai — Over 15,000 Sri Lankans as well as people of other nationalities gathered at the Zaabeel Park to mark the Sri Lankan New Year on Friday.
The event kicked off with a special marathon titled ‘UAE-Sri Lanka Tolerance Run’, flagged off by the Consul-General of Sri Lanka Charitha Yattagoda.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Yattagoda said the objective of the marking the occasion with daylong activities related to the Sinhalese culture was to bring all Sri Lankans across the UAE under one umbrella of celebration, while also providing an opportunity for non-Sri Lankans to join in.”
The event saw people take part and enjoy in Sri Lankan traditional games such as (breaking earthen pots), (pillow fight),
(marking the eye on the elephant),
(finding the secret guest), coconut scraping, eating the buns without using hands etc.
Yattagoda said they organised a special fun-filled tug-of-war event for staff and families of various consul-generals of other countries based in Dubai, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines etc.
The event also had an array of Sri Lankan cuisine, trade stalls, free health and dental camps, free spectacle donation and blood donation camp, a model village of Sri Lanka depicting New Year customs of Sri Lanka and much more.
Folk song maestros Saman Lenin and Nilakshi Halapitiya, and Ranwala Balakaya, a Sri Lankan traditional cultural performance troupe specialised in folkdance performance, enthralled the audience of the mega event.
Sri Lankan expat Ayesha Silva, who came for the event along with her family, said. “This is the first time I am getting a chance to enjoy our home country’s festive spirit here in the UAE. I had no idea that so many Sri Lankans lived in the UAE.”