Around 500 people from Nelson Tasman, Auckland, Wellington and a guest speaker from Thailand, celebrated Karenni National Day at Nelson College for Girls on Sunday.
The event marked 149 years since the British and Burmese governments signed an agreement that recognised Karenni as an independent state in Myanmar.
Nelson Karenni Youth leader, Meh Mon, says the event was equally important to raise awareness of the Karenni people to locals through the speeches, food, fashion show, and cultural performances.
“Karenni people, although there are a lot of tribes, we are united as well,” she says.
“We’re here to celebrate our history and culture to make sure that our tradition is kept alive here for future generations, as well as exposing traditional Karenni to the Nelson community.”
Meh also thanked the Ministry for Ethnic Communities and Multicultural Nelson Tasman for funding the celebrations.
