Monsoon festival-2016 concludes with gaiety
Port Blair ,
The two-day 'Monsoon Festival-2016' which began at the ITF ground on the eve of Aug 14 concluded yesterday evening with fun & frolic. Huge crowds were seen making their way to the venue, it being 'Independence Day', also a national holiday.
People of all ages were seen visiting the stalls put up by different departments as well as private stalls. The exhibits included beautiful handicrafts of local artisans, such as mats, baskets, decorative items made of cane and bamboo, wood, coconut shell crafts, sea shells crafts etc.
A colourful cultural programme was presented by the artistes from Friends Cultural Group Association, BRW Musical Wing, Ecstesia, Dream World and from the Art & Culture Department, which comprised of Gauri Shankar Classical Dance Academy, Sarmishta Cultural Group, Jhumur Nrityangan, Sur Sangam Cultural Forum and Mukhta Dhara. The Defence personnel also voluntarily performed on the occasion.
As many as 40 stalls were put up in the Festival, of which 10 stalls have been put up by Govt. Departments and the rest by SHGs, NGOs and tourism stakeholders. The Festival was organised by the Directorate of Tourism, with the support of tourism stakeholders, SHGs, NGOs and Departments like Art & Culture, Agriculture, Police (Prison), Fisheries and PBMC with the objective to promote A & N Islands as 'round the year tourist destination'.
The traditional stall put up by Nicobari tribal community attired in their beautiful traditional costumes showcased the Nicobari traditional food while the Chotanagpuri stall highlighted the speciality of tribal delicacies.
