The Sri Lankan community in Dubai celebrated Sri Lankan Day at the Global Village yesterday with demonstrations of the island's rich cultural heritage. Although Sri Lanka's National Day falls on February 4, the Lankan Community decided to celebrate the event at the Global Village during the shopping festival.

Events began at 7pm with a traditional dance parade called 'Perahera' in which 200 artists walked and danced through various locations at the Global Village. They wore traditional costumes typical of different regions of the country. Thousands of people stood to watch the parade as it passed through the gates of different countries' pavilions.

This was followed by a cultural event, which began at 8pm on the main stage of the Global Village. A 15-member troupe from Sri Lanka entertained the crowd with ethnic Sri Lankan and Kandian folklore dances and a variety show which included a fire dance and a fire-eating demonstration. Fire-eater, Gamini Kumar, performs daily by drawing patches on his body with oil which he then ignites, burning the oil on his body.

Among the various items, members of the troupe also performed a mask dance, a Veis dance, a Kandian dance and an acrobatic show on stage. Asoka Godawita, the Sri Lankan consul general, said: "Last year, 10,000 people attended the Lanka Day celebrations at the Global Village and we are glad to be able to participate in the Dubai Shopping Festival 2001.

"This is our second year at the Global Village. Around 21 companies from Sri Lanka are participating in our pavilion which has been visited by thousands of visitors every day. "It is the largest single promotion of Lankan culture in the Middle East which shows what our country has to offer. However, we have a lot more to offer and we hope to do so in future."