Such cultural festivals greatly help each community to nurture its distinctive culture while preserving it. By drawing young people into cultural activities, these traditions can be sustained into the future, said Hon. Governor of the Northern Province N. Vethanayahan.
The Governor made these remarks at the Northern Province Cultural Festival – 2026, organised by the Cultural Affairs Unit of the Provincial Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs of the Northern Province. The festival was held today – on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, the Jaffna Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre.
Held to showcase the cultural diversity and traditional art heritage of the Northern Province, the event began in the morning with a cultural procession that started from the Jaffna Muttraweli vicinity. 32 cultural dance troupes and 22 cultural vehicles, presenting a variety of traditional art forms, marched along the streets of Jaffna town together with the guests and arrived at the Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre. The main events began there at around 10.00 a.m.
The event featured a variety of cultural dances reflecting the cultures and art traditions of people of different ethnicities, religions and languages from all five districts of the Northern Province. A key highlight of the event was that everyone came together, transcending differences while safeguarding their own distinctive cultures, to showcase their art traditions.
Addressing the gathering, the Governor further stated that cultural programmes reflecting all the ethnicities, religions and languages of the five districts of the North had been presented there. It is gratifying, he said, that everyone has participated without any distinction, respecting and preserving their own culture.
Today’s event aims to encourage young people towards the arts and to honour the contributions made by the older generation to the arts. Our expectation is that many more young artists will emerge in the future.
To encourage young artists and promote the arts, we provided valuable musical instruments last year to the registered arts associations in the Northern Province. This assistance will continue to be provided. We will take steps to continuously encourage artists and arts associations.
In the present times, many traditional art forms are in decline. It is our responsibility to protect them and pass them on to the next generation. At the same time, art and sports play a vital role in guiding young people along the right path. Therefore, such cultural festivals provide an excellent platform for taking these two fields forward together, the Governor said.
As part of the cultural festival, the launch of the book “Vadanthai,” the honouring of artists, and various cultural dance performances also took place. In addition, awards and felicitations were presented to recognise the contributions of those in the field of arts, and the participation of young artists was also given prominence.
Attending the Northern Province Cultural Festival – 2026 as chief guests, along with Hon. Governor N. Vethanayahan of the Northern Province, were Hon. R. Chandrasekar, Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources and Chairman of the Jaffna–Kilinochchi Districts Coordinating Committee and Hon. Upali Samarasinghe, Deputy Minister of Cooperatives and Chairman of the Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaitivu Districts Coordinating Committee.
Also present were Mrs. Thanuja Murugeson, Chief Secretary of the Northern Province; M. Patrick Diranjan, Secretary of the Northern Province Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs; Mrs. N. Tharsini, Assistant Director of the Cultural Affairs Unit and other officials, along with artists, representatives of arts associations, students and members of the public.
