Happy Market.lk conducts weekly “Jaffna Saturday Night Fever”

The organisers of Happymarket.lk website, that showcases Northern products, give home-based SMEs the opportunity to be trained in all aspects of product development, manufacturing process, minimum standards, packaging design and processes, advertising and marketing locally and internationally, client sourcing in B-2-B and B-2-C environments, accounting and finance, customer service, etc.

It provides a springboard for individuals and SMEs, as a “one-stop shop” to get to wherever they wish to go.  The site is operated by Thuwaraka Prashanthan and Robinson, a dynamic, young entrepreneurial couple based in Jaffna.  

In March 2022, the then Northern Province Governor, Jeevan Thiagarajah invited three Colombo-based senior tourism professionals to serve as Board Members of the Northern Province Tourism Board under the Chairmanship of Sunil Dissanayake. One of the members, Suresh Murugaser, identified the lack of night activity in Jaffna as a major drawback for visiting tourists, and convinced the Board to agree to his concept of a regular night market to be held on Saturdays.    

With the unstinting support of Governor Thiagarajah and other local Provincial Council, Local Government and Municipal Council officials, they were able to convince the local Archaeological Dept. office to permit the use of the rear and adjoining area of the Jaffna Fort for this purpose. It was a long drawn-out process, the next challenge being obtaining funding for the project. 

Sri Lankan companies other than the Janashakthi Group, were not willing to dip their toe in the water for an untried project. With just a few days to the launch, New York-based Synamon Global Group, headed by Raj Rajaratnam, decided to back the project to the hilt with an unprecedented donation and no strings attached, as he realised the impact it would have for the Northern community as a whole, on several levels.

The first Jaffna Saturday Night Fever kicked off on 17 June, 2023, and has been running continuously every Saturday, despite all challenges, since then.

Some of the highlights are:

1. 21 events have been held up to 11 November, from 4pm to 10pm

2. Complimentary entry

3. Average public participation per night is 1,500+

4. Average of 25-30 stalls, most of them given complimentarily as an incentive to SMEs

5. Wide range of food and beverage stalls

6. Live music, karaoke contests and dance groups

7. Variety of stalls selling local handicrafts, bottled and packeted food, nuts, pickles, palmyrah products, leather ware, clothes, etc

8. A family-friendly atmosphere has been created with a number of children’s and adults’ games, basketball shooting, ring toss, archery, darts, coconut shy etc

9. Eco-friendly environment, with bins provided, municipal washrooms, plastic-free zones, immediate post-event ground-cleaning and garbage storage

10. From the comments received, the Northern community is overjoyed that they have something to look forward to every week, and, their children now goad them into visiting every week

The end result is that this is the first time where any such series of events has been conducted in any part of the country over such a long period. The organisers now welcome local corporates, based anywhere in the country, to contact them if they are keen on tapping into the booming Northern economy, that is being further boosted by a steady flow of Indian tourist and trader-based traffic, with daily flight and ferry services between the two countries. This is in addition to many other foreign tourists and Southerners wanting to savour the wide array of Northern attractions. Several sponsorship opportunities are up for grabs for the savvy corporate.

For further details contact +94 778960281 (also on WhatsApp) or [email protected]