Bhubaneswar : Bhubaneswar Development Authority and Odisha Tourism are jointly organizing the inaugural edition of.FEST (Bhubaneswar City Festival) from 1st December, 2018 – 16th December, 2018. The event will coincide with Odisha HockeyMen’s World Cup 2018. This festival will include activities like International Street Food Festival, Entertainment, International Story Telling Festival and Trails. The city will see athletes and guests from around the world during this period, making it the perfect occasion to showcase the cultural bounty of the city and state of Odisha. The logo and event calendar of the festival were unveiled at the press conference today.
The launch event was graced by Shri Niranjan Pujari, Hon’ble Minister Housing & Urban Development Department & Water Resources, Government of Odisha as Chief Guest. The Guest of Honours were Shri Ashok Chandra Panda, Hon’ble Minister, Tourism, Culture & Odia Literature, Shri Chandra Sarathi Behera, Minister Sports & Youth Services, Shri Bijaya Kumar Mohanty, Hon’ble MLA, Bhubaneswar Central (Madhya), Shri Priyadarshi Mishra, Hon’ble MLA, Bhubaneswar North (Uttar) and Shri Ananta Narayan Jena, Hon’ble Mayor, BMC. Also present at the launch was Dr. Krishan Kumar, IAS, Commissioner BMC & Vice-Chairman, Bhubaneswar Development Authority.
Dr. Krishan Kumar, Commissioner BMC&, Vice-Chairman, Bhubaneswar Development Authority said “Bhubaneswar is known for its art, craft, festivity and creativity. By introducing art projects like STAMP, heritage walks and trails around the city, we’re moving towards making Bhubaneshwar a city of creative economy in India. We hope to make the .FEST one of the biggest events in the country.”
Shri Chandra Sarathi Behera, Minister Sports & Youth Services, said, “We believe in atithi devo bhava. We are expecting a record tourist footfall because of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018 and .FESTand welcome both locals and tourists to enjoy the festivities.”
“We have a lot of students here thanks to the good education ecosystem and Bhubaneswar is becoming a popular destination for big events, conferences and sporting events like the upcoming Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018.” said Shri Ashok Chandra Panda, Hon’ble Minister, Tourism, Culture & Odia Literature.
Speaking at the launch event, Shri Niranjan Pujari and Hon’ble Minister Housing & Urban Development Department & Water Resources, Government of Odisha said, “Since the ‘I am Bhubaneswar’ project launched in 2015, we’ve grown towards highlighting the art and culture in the city—especially since it is known as the temple city.” The city’s temples are known to be a great work of art which has always been a highlight for the city. The endeavour now is to push that envelope of creativity forward.
The .FEST will take visitors on a complete culture trip with global cuisines from more than 16 countries, cuisinesfrom all states of India and authentic food specialties from Odisha by leading hotels and restaurants of the city. It will also host storytelling sessions by local and international storytellers. There’s a full roster of musicians like Vishal and Shekhar, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Farhan Akhtar, Shaan, Sona Mohapatra, Rituraj Mohanty, Noorani Sisters and Krishna Beura performing at IDCO Exhibition Groundover the course of the festival. Audiences will also be entertained by popular stand-up comedian BiswaKalyanRath and can listen to soft, romantic ballads by singer Shreya Ghoshal. There will also be cycling tours and heritage trails around the city. Tickets for the festival will be available at Bookmyshow.com.
The .FEST will take place in Bhubaneswar from 1st December to 16th December, 2018. Find out more at www.bhubaneswar.me
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