Butwal Food Festival and Maghe Sankranti from January 13

By Our Correspondent,Butwal, Jan. 11: Preparations for the ‘Butwal Food Festival and Maghe Sankranti’ have begun. The festival, set to take place from January 13 to January 15 at Siddheswari Playground in Dipnagar, was announced by Lekhnath Bhandari, president of Rupandehi Hotel and Restaurant Entrepreneurs Association.

The festival aims to promote and publicise the cultural identity of the community, language and ethnicity, said Bhandari. He believes that the Food and Maghe Sankranti festivals will help to strengthen and develop community solidarity, unity, traditional culture and economic prosperity.

The Rupandehi Hotel and Restaurant Entrepreneurs Association has formed a main committee for event management under the coordination of association president Lekhnath Bhandari. 

Additionally, 27 sub-committees have been formed to handle various aspects of organising the Butwal Food Festival and Maghe Sankranti Fair, informed Arjun Thapa, the general secretary of the association. According to him, the main committee and thematic sub-committees have rapidly progressed with the preparatory work.

He further added that the food and Maghe Sankranti festivals would be held with the slogan ‘Nepali original art, culture, and traditional food are our pride, tourism promotion and development from city to village is our campaign,”. The festival will feature dishes representing local and ethnic cultural identities, he added. 

 Traditional dishes such as ‘Chukauni’ and ‘Batuk’, associated with the identity of Palpa, will also be served. Secretary Thaman Bahadur Bhandari said that 65 stalls will be set up at the fair.

Furthermore, during the three-day event, various cultural programmes will be organised, informed the organisers.  According to General Secretary Arjun Thapa, cultural festivals highlighting the traditions of various ethnic groups will be performed, and both local and national artists will showcase their talents at the festival.