4-days Northeast festival in Varanasi to start from Saturday

Union Minister
Jitendra Singh said the ‘Destination North East’ festival, which will begin in
the temple town of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, will exhibit the striking
similarities between the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins in terms of ancient
culture, diverse handlooms and silk products, spiritual heritage and vibrant
tourist hubs.

“The
idea of organising such an event is to bring the rest of India closer to the
Northeast and to have experience of rich culture of the region,” Union
Minister said in New Delhi.

The Union minister
for development of the NorthEastern region (DoNER) said all-round progress of
the Northeast was the priority of the central government ever since Prime
Minister Narendra Modi took charge five years ago.

All eight
Northeastern states will participate in the event, which is to be held at the
IIT (BHU) ground, to display their handicrafts, handloom, organic products and
cultural troupes.

During the
festival, the visitors will have live experience of the artisans and artistes
from the Northeast working on their looms and crafts, performing their songs
and dances in the open stage. Indigenous games will also be performed where
visitors can also participate.

Live
kitchens with recipes from the Northeast and Uttar Pradesh will be serving
delicacies throughout the festival, organised by the Ministry of DoNER.

Renowned
band ‘Shillong Chamber Choir’, singers Papon, Sourabhee Debbarma, Borkung
Hrangkhawl and Rekha Bhardwaj are some of the lending voices who are likely to
perform, while several actors from Bollywood is also expected to attend it.

Union
Minister, who will inaugurate the festival, informed that a
business-to-business session had also been scheduled on one of the days for the
business communities to explore opportunities in the northeastern states.