The Department of Tourism and Culture has announced to host a State-level folk dance and music festival-2015 in the city from April 2 to 4. The festival will be held at the Utkal Mandap in the premises of the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya. It will feature many art forms like Jodi Sankha from Ganjam district, Rama leela from Puri, Sankirtan from Cuttack, tribal dances from Sundargarh, Ghumura from Kalahandi and many more.
The fifth edition of this festival will also showcase Mughal Tamasha, Ghanta Badya, Singha Badya, Sarua Nacha, Pala, Danda Nacha, Sambalpuri, Dalkhai, etc. Around 1700 folk artists from all over the State would participate in the festival, which CM Naveen Patnaik would inaugurate it, informed Deputy Director of Culture Bhabani Prasad Ray. Each day 500 artists from 10 districts including their cultural troupes would present their performances, he added.
The festival seeks to explore and promote the dying folk dance forms, said Director of Culture Sushil Kumar Das at a Press meet organised here at the State Museum. The objective is to promote and protect the traditional folk arts to provide livelihood support to the folk artists, Das added. Among others, Project Coordinator, Culture Department, Basudev Malbisayi and Secretary, Odisha Sangeeta Natak Akademi, Dhirendranath Mallick were present.