The Motu Koita Assembly (MKA) has confirmed that the Annual Hiri Moale Festival 2025 will take place, and it will be bigger and better this year, after a massive successful Golden Jubilee celebration last year. MKA made this statement after the Member (MP) for Moresby North-west Lohia Boe Samuel, called for the cancellation of the 2025 Festival. The MKA Administration is now calling on the local MP to refrain from politicizing the 2025 Hiri Moale Festival. "The MKA Administration rejects the member's comments and confirm that the Annual Festival will be bigger and better this year after a massively successful Golden Jubilee celebration last year, which saw the Festival open its doors to tens of thousands of Motu Koita villagers and city residents for 3 days of cultural dances, music, canoe races and the famous Hiri Hanenamo pageant. MKA Manager Mr. Mari Kila stated that the "Hiri Moale Festival is the only time in the national event calendar when the indigenous Motu Koitabuans of our city of Port Moresby get together, across our 14 electorates and 9 villages including the wider Central province community to celebrate our culture, languages and traditions, which are sadly facing the very real risk of being lost in a generation or two, unless we take proactive steps to preserve and commemorate them. Hiri Moale Festival is our way of doing this.” Mr. Kila added that it's disheartening to see a national leader such as Lohia Boe Samuel call for the cancellation of this event that brings the whole community together. "I am calling on our Member for Moresby North- West to refrain from politicizing the Hiri Moale Festival and focus his energy on delivering services to the People of Moresby North-West. I know Moresby North-West is quite a big place from Gerehu to Waigani and Morata, all the way to Tokarara and Murray Barracks, and down to Hanuabada, Tatana and Baruni. The Hiri Moale Festival has been taking place at the beginning of every year since 2022, which was a change that was made to separate the event from other prominent events held in September in the national calendar. The date change has seen continuous growth of the event enabled by greater participation of corporate sponsors. The 2025 Hiri Moale Festival has also been unanimously approved for funding support by the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) in its meeting of 5 February 2025 in which Lohia Boe Samuel was in attendance in his capacity as a NCDC Board Member. Since 2022, the festival has been run by a Coordination Committee consisting of experienced event organizers, sponsors and staff from NCDC and MKA, led by Mrs. Molly O’Rourke," he stated. The 2025 Hiri Moale Festival is scheduled to take place between 03rd to the 06th of April 2025.