3rd edition of Nepal snake festival to be held in Dhanusha

By Laxmi Chaudhary,Janakpurdham, Sept. 9: The third edition of the "Nepal Snake Festival" is scheduled to take place in Dhanusha on September 18 and 19, with the main slogan of promoting coexistence between humans and snakes.

The festival, jointly organised by Mithila Wildlife Trust and Save the Life, will be held at the Culture Village in Mithila Bihari Municipality-2.

It will feature informational stalls on snakes, interactions with snake experts, displays of various snake species, and screenings of rescue-related documentaries, among other activities, as announced at a press conference in Janakpurdham on Monday.

According to the organisers, the Nepal Snake Festival Group initiated this event to raise awareness about biodiversity conservation, reducing human-snake conflicts, snake management, and snake conservation.

The group's members have decades of experience in the field of snakes and snakebites. To date, they have conducted over a hundred awareness programmes, capacity-building trainings, workshops, and interactions across various districts of Nepal.

Devnarayan Mandal, Chairman of Mithila Wildlife Trust, expressed confidence that the festival would send a positive message about coexistence between humans and snakes in Madhes Province. He stated, “Snakes should be considered as friends of farmers. This festival will play a key role in scientifically explaining the ecological and religious significance of snakes.”

Similarly, Kamal Devkota, Chairman of Save the Life, said many accidents happen due to a lack of public awareness about snake conservation and snakebite management.

He explained, “Unnecessary deaths are occurring because people lack information on what to do and what not to do during a snakebite. Our goal is to increase public participation in snake conservation through this festival by providing accurate first aid information.”

The festival aims to raise awareness about the ecological, medical, religious, and cultural importance of snakes. Additionally, participants will receive practical training on how to administer first aid in case of a snakebite, according to organizers.

Prior to this, the first edition of the festival was held on August 20 and 21, 2023, in Kawasoti, Nawalpur, and the second edition took place on September 17 and 18, 2024, in Tilottama, Rupandehi.