celebrations

The festivities will showcase the country's rich cultural heritage and provide a platform for citizens to express their patriotism and love for our nation, Papua New Guinea.

The main feature of the event is the famous Frangipani Festival, which will begin on Friday, September 15th, and continue to Saturday, which is PNG’s 48th anniversary.

The organising committee, headed by chairlady and local businesswoman, Susan McGrade, were on air at the local NBC East New Britain radio station yesterday to talk about the program.

Ms McGrade said the organising committee comprises of volunteers; three of which accompanied her for the talk-show – Lilly Blake, Albert Konie and Conrad Jui. All of them were born in Rabaul and are proud to call it home.

The event, marked as the first of its kind in New Ireland, was hailed as a magnificent success and witnessed the enthusiastic participation of locals from all corners of the province, as well as visitors from other parts of Papua New Guinea, including Port Moresby and the Highlands.

Addressing the organizing committee in a debriefing session on Friday morning, Sir Julius thanked everyone involved in the coordination of the celebrations.

Students organized different sports games and competed in their house teams, green, yellow, red and blue.  

The students did not wear their normal house team attires on this day but all were encouraged to wear PNG colour attire to depict the occasion.

The head girl for 2020-2021 Jena Kum expressed what independence means to her and what it means to the National School of Excellence.

Speaking at the Independence Hill to mark the country’s 42 year’s anniversary, O’Neill said our country is very unique as we have tens of thousands of years of history, different cultures but have united as one people.

“We need to focus on what we can do to play a part in our national development – both as individuals and in our communities.

“The opportunities before our country are great, but there is a lot of work ahead for each of us if we are to reach our true national potential.”

Celebrations started on Friday in Buka Town and continued to Saturday coinciding with the East New Britain Day where hundreds of Tolais who live and work in Bougainville and also those who got married to Bougainvilleans staged various cultural activities.

At the main Hutjena Oval in Buka Town where the twins Celebrations were held, there was excitement unity and peace as the Tolais and Bougainvilleans put on their cultural shows.