The fest’s fifth edition promises a high adrenaline package with Mary Kom, Zubeen Garg as well as Papon and a mammoth culture showcase of the region, says Team Viva
In a unique culture initiative, organisers of the Northeast festival are joining hands with the Delhi Police to distribute invites with its help to RWAs and host them for an interactive session featuring quiz shows, trivia, music and food. The idea is to debunk myths about the Seven Sisters and mainstream them in urban consciousness.
And while tribal culture and ethnic crafts are the done thing, the organisers are highlighting a more broad-based matrix of music, tourism and botanical heritage to get people interested about travelling to the region, which includes Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
For the first time, around 100 exhibitors will put out a range of organic products and herbs. You could sample Sohiong or Meghalayan cherry, the Soh Shang or wild olive, the Soh lyngdkhur or the black mulberry, which cannot be found anywhere else in India, the red hot Bhut jolokia chilli and home-grown kiwis.
The three-day festival from November 3 will see more than 90 rock bands descend upon Delhi. Papon, Zubeen Garg, Alobo Naga and rapper Borkung Hrangkhawl will take the young crowd along. Anshu Jamsenpa, the mother of two who has climbed Mount Everest five times and Mary Kom will interact with visitors about scoring despite the odds. Fashion designer Asa Kazingmei, whose haute couture has been endorsed by renowned Bollywood celebrities like Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Varun Dhawan, Kajol and Katrina Kaif, is expected to make inroads among the luxury-conscious denizens.
Encouraging healthy competition and harmony, the pre-fest highlight is the Northeast Festival Football Cup happening among Delhi University affiliated colleges like St Stephens, Hansraj and Hindu where local stalwarts will dribble past and tussle with talent from the Northeastern states. The football cup began on October 21 at Thyagaraj Sports Complex and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It will witness the finale on November 2, a day prior to the main festival.
Chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta told us, “The Ministry of Tourism along with the tourism departments of Manipur, Nagaland and Assam are supporting the festival along with the Ministry of Textiles. The ideas is to boost travel and encourage dialogue between people.” And since the fashion industry in India is now resurrecting its pride by falling back on its original weaves, there will be B2B meetings between textile professionals. This initiative is being supported by the Northeastern Handicrafts and Handloom Development Corporation. The best partIJ Entry is free.