Held under the theme “Leaving Nobody Behind” the festival brought together more than 50,000 people from over 40 local and expatriates’ communities to showcase their respective cultures. Thousands of people joined the festival to demonstrate the rich multicultural diversity and harmony that exists between foreign communities residing in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Capital Governor, Hisham Al Khalifa, joined the festival, along with the officials from the city administration and foreign envoys. This year’s programme line-up included cultural performances by the Nepalese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Egyptian, Jordanian, Filipino, Pakistani, Thailand, Ethiopia, Sudanese, and Palestinian communities and their multicultural performances spotlighted the different cultures of participant nations from all around the world.

For the first time in the history of “Bahrain for All”, the Embassy had a stall at the festival, which displayed Sri Lanka tea, handicrafts, spices and batik items. The Sri Lanka Embassy stall was adorned with materials highlighting Sri Lanka as a striking tourism destination. Another two stalls had also been set up by the Sri Lanka Club Bahrain where handy crafts, jewellery and handlooms from Sri Lanka were available. Sri Lankan Community children performed traditional Sri Lankan dances reflecting country’s multi-ethnic diversification and added more colour to the event. Sri Lanka segment of the cultural performances drew attention of many spectators and was the most vibrant among other groups. A 15 minutes video presentation on Sri Lanka as a prime tourist destination was also screened.

“Bahrain for All” was conceptualized in 2011, with the support and guidance from the Court of HRH the Prime Minister. The idea was to mobilise different communities in Bahrain to showcase their culture and highlight strength of “unity in diversity” in the Kingdom of Bahrain.