2017 May Day Rally at Galle Face – Stage Design & Event Coordination

Date: 1 May 2017
Location: Galle Face Green, Colombo

The May Day rally held at Galle Face Green on 1 May 2017 was one of the major political May Day gatherings of that year and was associated with the Joint Opposition led by Mahinda Rajapaksa. Contemporary reporting listed Galle Face among the principal May Day venues in Colombo, while later reports also referred to the large 2017 Joint Opposition gathering held there. Daily Mirror

This event remains particularly significant in my personal journey because I was involved in the design of the large May Day stage, while our team was also entrusted with the responsibility of managing the crowd immediately in front of the stage on the day of the rally.

Managing the front area of the stage during such a heavily attended public gathering required teamwork, coordination and constant attention. Our members worked together in matching team shirts while carrying out the responsibilities assigned to us. The photographs from the day preserve both the scale of the gathering and the team that worked behind the scenes.

For me, the 2017 Galle Face May Day rally remains an important memory of working beyond social media activities and becoming directly involved in both the creative and on-site organizational aspects of a major public event.