Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath met French DJ and music producer DJ Snake and other international artists in Colombo on Saturday, during their visit for the two-day Senter Music Festival at Port City Colombo, the Daily Mirror reported.
The minister thanked the artists for accepting the invitation to perform in Sri Lanka and invited DJ Snake to return for a holiday to experience the country’s natural beauty, cultural heritage and hospitality.
Herath said international music festivals and concerts were growing in importance for tourism promotion, and that the government was committed to positioning Sri Lanka as a regional destination for international entertainment and major events. Attracting more international artists and events would increase the country’s global visibility, boost tourist arrivals and create new economic opportunities, he said.
The minister also stressed the importance of creating more opportunities for young people to take part in music, entertainment and cultural activities.
The festival
News 1st reported that DJ Snake arrived in Sri Lanka ahead of his performance on the festival’s second day, after the opening day concluded on Friday. The line-up combines Sri Lankan performers with regional DJs from Singapore, Malaysia, the Maldives and India.
Disclosure: News 1st is part of the Maharaja group, whose Maharaja Media Network is a strategic partner of the festival through Sirasa, YES FM and Y FM. Its coverage of the event is therefore not independent of it, and promotional characterisations in that filing have not been reproduced here.
Not reported
Neither filing gives attendance figures for the opening day, ticket sales, the festival’s organisers or financing, or any estimate of the event’s tourism impact beyond the minister’s general statements. Neither records whether any public funds or tourism promotion budget supported the event.
