Malda folk festival was held at Malda town from Oct 14-16. The festival was held in association with the district administration of Malda. The festival was inaugurated by the District Magistrate of Malda, Shri Nitin Singhania along with leading Gambhira, Domni, Basketry artists of Malda. The festival saw participation of leading folk theatre groups of Malda. Eight Gambhira groups, 3 Domni groups participated along with participation of Raibenshe, Bhawaiya and Baul artists. Along with participation of Basketry artists from Gazole who are part of RCCH Project, District Industries Centre and West Bengal Khadi and Village Industries Board also facilitated artists participation at the fair with locally produced handicraft and FMCG products. Heritage education on Basketry was taken up with the school students.
Uttar Dinajpur Festival
Uttar Dinajpur Festival was organised at Raiganj showcasing the rich art and craft of North Bengal. The fesitvla was inaugurated by the Sabhadhipati of Uttar Dinajpur, Kabita Barman, Additional Distrrict Magistrate (Development), Shri Manas Mandal, GM DIC, Chairman Raiganj Municipality, Headmaster-Sudarshanpur Dwarika Prasad Vidyachakra and master artists inaugurated the festival. There were 20 stalls in the festivals where 43 craft artists participated. Folk performances were organised where 114 artists participated. Local cultural groups also performed in the event. There were handicraft stalls of Wooden Mask, Basketry, Terracotta, Shola craft, Sitalpati, Bamboo Mask, Dhokra, Rabha, Kantha and Patachitra. Each stall had an artist demonstrating the process of making the handicraft which attracted a lot of visitors who were curious and wanted to learn about the making of the handicrafts. Mukha dance, Raibenshe, Baul, Gambhira, Rabha song and dance, Bhawaiya music was showcased in the festival.
Talk on Heritage of Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur was conducted by Sukumar Barai, Associate Professor, Dept. of History, Meghnath Saha College, Itahar and Mr. Tuhin Shubro Mondal, environmentalist teacher and President of Dakshin Dinajpur Heritage Society. The panellists talked on heritage of the region like town bank, sinha bahini mandir associated with Tebhaga Andolon which needs to be safeguarded. There are interesting waterways in the region which caters to history of the medieval period.
