From: Eri News (er_news@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Aug 11 2008 - 08:47:52 EDT
34th Annual Eritrean Festival Celebration in Washington, DC
Eritreans in the United States celebrated the annual festival in
Washington DC in a grand style at the Show place arena in upper
Marlboro, MD . The three day festivities started on Friday evening at
the Omni Shoreham Hotel with cultural music from Okbay Mesfin, Habtom
Debessai, Mehret Zerihanes and Isack Simon.
On Saturday, H.E. Dr. Woldai Futur, Minister of National Development
and the Festivals' guest of Honor, accompanied by H.E. Ghirmai
Ghebremariam, Eritrean Ambassador to the United States and H.E. Araya
Desta, Permanent Representative of Eritrea to the UN officially
opened the evening's festivities where the organizers welcomed them
with traditional music and dances.
During the day, there were different seminars and sports activities.
The speaker in the seminar organized by NUEW North America was Dr.
Fickak Habtes. In a workshop organized by the Organization of
Eritrean Americans (OEA) under the theme "The Horn of Africa: the
Search for Peace Continues" Dr. Gebre Hiwet Tesfagiorgis of Iowa
State University presented a paper on "Legal Settlement of Disputes
vs. Geopolitical Interests" and Dr. Abdi Samatar of the University of
Minnesota presented on "the Terror of War in the Horn of Africa".
There was also a meeting of the Eritrean Enterprise Group.
The evening's activities started after a moment of silence in
memory of Eritrea's fallen heroes, and was followed with a stunning
Operatic National Anthem performance by Barnobas, a professional
opera singer. This was followed by an excellent cultural show by
Eritrean-American youth.
Following a brief statement by Mr. Ghirmay Berhe, Chairman of the
Eritrean National Holiday Organizing Committee (ENHOC), Ambassador
Ghirmai Ghebremariam welcomed the evening's guests and the thousands
of Eritreans who made their annual trip to the Festival from all over
the United States to celebrate this great tradition.
The evening continued with this year's entertainment ensemble that
included Helen Meles, Yemane Kidane, Ogbay Mesfin, Mehret Zerihans,
Habtom Debessai, Isack Simon, and for the first time in the
festival's history, an Opera singer, Mr., Barnobas Yohannes.
The festivities continued on Sunday with workshops, seminars and
more entertainment at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
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