Sri Lanka wins first place at Berlin Carnival of Culture

Sri Lanka's  Channa-Upuli Performing Arts Foundation brought fame to the country by winning the first place at the 17th Berlin Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures ) held from May 25 to 28. They competed with 99 international dance troupes comprising around 5000 dancers, for an audience of one million in addition to the television viewers across Germany.

Sri Lankan pageants led by the renowned Channa Upuli Dance Group from Sri Lanka and members of the Sri Lankan community representing ethnics Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim presented a colourful and impressive formation in the parade. This is the first time that Sri Lanka has participated at the event since 2007.

The Sri Lanka Association Berlin with the support of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Berlin organized Sri Lanka’s participation at the parade. The parade provided a prime opportunity for Sri Lanka to express peace, harmony and ethnic reconciliation in the post-conflict era of the country depicting a rich picture of Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage. For its exceptional performance, the Sri Lanka Association in Berlin as the organiser of Sri Lanka’s participation was awarded the First Prize in the Full Formations Category of the Parade with a price money of 1000 Euro by the jury of the Carnival of Cultures.

Carnival of Cultures is one of the most colourful and impressive traditional parades taking place every year in Berlin, the capital of Germany. Hundreds of thousands of Berliners have celebrated the 17th Carnival of Cultures this time for four days during the weekend in Berlin. Like every year, the traditional parade on Sunday, 27th May, where Sri Lanka won the first Price for Ensemble, was the highpoint of the festival. It was estimated that more than 700 000 viewers watched the parade on the road, while the parade was lively telecast in major German channels and prominent TV channels across Europe for millions of viewers.