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.
Birbhum Lokutsav was held on 12th, 13th and 14th of April from 3 pm - 8 pm at Dak Bunglow ground of Bolpur, Shantiniketan to celebrate the folk art forms and handicrafts of Birbhum. The festival was inaugurated by the DM of Birbhum along with ADM-Dev, SDO-Bolpur, Chairman Bolpur Municipality, BCW officer, DO WBKVIB, GM DIC and leading artists of Birbhum such as Rina Das Baul, Tajkira Begum, etc. During the festival cultural performances such as Baul music, Raibenshe, Chau dance, folk songs by Folks of Bengal took place.
