The three-day festival is expected to create a chance for nations and nationalities to promote their culture, State Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mohamouda Ahmed Gaas told a press conference held here on Monday.

Arbaminch is selected to host the festival, as it is one of the major tourist destinations of the country and as it is found in the region, which is home for 52 nations and nationalities, the minister said.

With many performers coming from very remote areas and communities, the fifth edition of Thousand Stars Rift Valley Music Festival is a rare opportunity to share and celebrate musical and diversity of this wonderful part of the world, according to the festival organizers.

This year’s festival is special in that it would be held during the new Ethiopian Millennium celebration and close to 50 performing groups, many traveling from very remote areas would join it.

One of the objectives of the festival is to bring people from all walks of life together to learn from each other and celebrate the wealth and diversity of the music, culture and living styles of the Rift Valley region.

The festival and its organizers aim to nurture and cultivate creative exchanges with the custodians of the cultural and artistic traditions represented on their terms for themselves.

Exhibition displaying arts, crafts, traditional foods and regional agricultural produces would be organized as part of the festival organized by Gughe Indigenous Art and Music Association (GIAMA) funded by the Christiansen Fund.

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