.FEST In Bhubaneswar To Be Rechristened As ‘Ekamra Utsav’

Bhubaneswar: The City Carnival .FEST (Food, Entertainment, Storytelling and Trails) will be back this year as ‘Ekamra Utsav’.

According to sources, around 40 artistes will perform in the city during the fest being planned December 23 and January 1, 2020. It will be jointly organised by Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Odisha Biennale.

A meeting of BDA officials chaired by Tourism Secretary Vishal Dev was recently held at Paryatan Bhawan in this regard. They will again meet to discuss the plan of action, the sources added.

Also Read: Second Edition Of Bhubaneswar City Festival From Dec 23

The first edition of the two-week cultural fiesta had kicked off with a spectacular performance by Bollywood’s dynamic music composer duo, Vishal and Shekhar on December 2, 2018. The evenings also witnessed scintillating live performances by the who’s who of the music industry, including Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Farhan Akhtar.

The festival, which was organised by Bhubaneswar Development Authority and Odisha Tourism, had then coincided with the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup.

Attending the show on its ninth day on December 9, 2018, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said that he was extremely happy with the success of .FEST. “We will host this festival every year,” he had declared.

The biggest draw of .FEST was the International Street Food Festival during which 24-odd food stalls put up on the fest ground.

The festival had also hosted around 16 storytellers and their troupes from all over the world — Paula Martin from Argentina, Dr. Wajuppa Tossa from Thailand and Sabrina Anastasia from France, to name a few. There were renowned storytellers from the region as well.

Theme-based walks were also organised to give tourists and locals an opportunity to explore the city.