The North-East Festival this time will feature handlooms and handicraft, agro and food products. By Jigyasu Joshi
For celebrating the art and culture of the north-eastern part of India with the people of the capital, the fourth edition of the North East Festival —Connecting People, Celebrating life —will be organised from November 4 to 6 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. The three-day fiesta will showcase the entire northeast India and its various hues via art, crafts and culture, songs, dance and movies, food, sports and fashion. Speaking about the reason for which the festival came up, Shyamkanu Mahanta, chief organiser of the festival, said, “Some three years back, there were racial violence cases that people of north-east experienced in the capital. To reduce this we started the festival as a friendly gesture.”
Before the festival, a rock competition titled North East Festival Rock Battle will be held on October 28 and 29 at Dilli Haat amongst the colleges and bands of Delhi, wherein 60 bands will perform. The winning band will stand a chance of winning a trip to Dubai. Popular artistes like Papon, Zubeen Garg, rapper Borkung Hrangkhal, DJ Zaeden, rock bands Traffic Jam, Fourth Element, Mo & The Shooting Stars, and Reverse Tragedy will also be performing at the festival.
“It is not just about the music, we will also host food stalls from the north-east region. And let me tell you it’s more than just momos,” laughed Mahanta. For the foodies, a collection of delectable cuisines from the northeast with around 30 food stalls will be on offer.
Talking about the main agenda of the festival, Mahanta shared that this time the festival focus on the prime issue of floods, which has haunted the state for the long time now. “This year we will be holding a seminar dedicated to flood and erosion that affects the region, which would see experts from IITs across the country discussing about the Brahmaputra to find a permanent solution to flood and erosion issues along with stakeholders of NER,” he said.