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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