The most popular, North East Festival (NEF) is all set to commence its 9th edition on January 7th, 8th and 9th, 2022 at Radisson Blu, Guwahati. The three-day fest will be held following all the COVID protocols and only the double-vaccinated people will be entertained. The festival will be organized with minimum human presence and broadcasted across the world through digital platforms.
Prof. Jagadish Mukhi, Hon’ble Governor Assam, will inaugurate the festival in the presence of Sjt. Chandra Mohan Patowary, Hon’ble Minister Industries & Commerce, Assam.
The 9th edition of North-East festival endeavours to promote and highlight the immense trade and tourism potential of the region. Keeping in line with that thought an exciting presentation of the culture and products of the Northeastern region would be showcased. Seminars, B2B Meets, exhibitions of Handloom and handicraft products, organic Agri-Horti products, food and cuisines, Start-up culture, tourism attractions and many more will be on display.
Under the chairmanship of Union Tourism, Culture and DoNER minister, Mr. G Kishan Reddy, Make in North-East – DoNER Dialogue will be organized with a series of discussions to highlight North-East as an ideal destination for investments and start-ups. Experienced investors will talk about their experience in potential investments in the session. Top entrepreneurs of the North East will also be present at the Start-Up Meet; discussions on start-up and a start-up exhibition will be organized. There will an exhibition of MSME products also.
Assam’s chief minister Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mr. Conrad Sangma are expected to attend the event.
Mighty river Brahmaputra has a major impact on the lives of people of the North-East. Riverine culture and lifestyle, various communities, way of life, food habits of North Eastern people will be presented at the festival.
The event will also have a Brahmaputra River Conclave to facilitate river transport in the North-East. Shipping companies, various stakeholders of river industries will be present at the conclave. The conclave will be chaired by Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of AYUSH, Government of India.
In order to call attention to North East as an ideal tourism destination post Covid – a tourism B2B meet will be organized. Textile stalls have always been a major focus of the festival. It will provide a sigh of relief to all the local crafters as they will be able to sell their products after they all had a tough time of less business in the lockdown. Olympians Lovlina Borgohain, Chanu Saikhom Mirabai and MTV Supermodel of the Year Roshni Dada will attend the festival.
“We will be strictly following all the COVID protocols including wearing masks, sanitization and social distancing. We will be deputing many volunteers to ensure the compliance of Covid appropriate behavior at the venue. The visitors have to show their double vaccination certificate to enter into the festival. Even all our artistes and management team are fully vaccinated. This time we have an interesting array of discussions and sessions on pertinent issues of the north eastern states. The festival also aims to celebrate the cultural diversity and ethnicity of the north eastern states in a grander way,” said Mr. Shyamkanu Mahanta, Organizer-North-East Festival.
Along with the Conclave, there will be fashion shows by prominent designers and weavers will display the local fabrics of NER. North East Festival will showcase a visual representation of the colors and culture of the Northeast India including various interesting and interactive events like – folk dance and music performances of North-East India, live art, photography exhibition, sports events like the Brahmaputra Volleyball League, etc.
The event will witness heritage rich Bhaona of Majuli with a spectacular performance of masked presentation and colorful tribal riverine culture of the region.