Indigenous food festival in Sinja

By Our Correspondent,Jumla, May 17: Sinja Rural Municipality in Jumla district successfully organised a cultural food festival, showcasing the significance of local cuisines. 

Jointly organised by the Sinja Rural Municipality and the Marxist Knowledge Centre, the event aimed at promoting the region's food culture and fostering income generation opportunities, particularly through the preservation of indigenous food.

The festival was held in Sinja, with seven stalls, six each of six wards of Sinja Rural Municipality.

This was an exciting moment for the locals as their traditional organic food was showcased in the market for the first time. 

Not only did they display the organic food at the festival, but also entertained the visitors with Dauda dances, jhodas (traditional songs), and jokes to promote their culinary heritage.

Sitali Rokaya, vice chairman of Sinja Rural Municipality, highlighted the importance of the local food promotion programme. 

He hoped that they would continue to organise food festivals in the future. 

Tirtha Wada, chairman of Sinja Rural Municipality- 2, also emphasised the local government's commitment to prioritising such events.

Dr. Nimanand Rijal, the coordinator of the cultural promotion programme and advisory coordinator of the knowledge centre, stressed the need for protecting indigenous foods and increasing economic opportunities.

 Local political parties and leaders shared their views on the cultural festival and suggested focusing on marketing traditional foods.

The stalls at the festival featured a variety of dishes, including millet, maize, Soybeans, Chinu, Kaguno (foxtail millet), maize dishes, and even rabbit meat.