Daai Festival to link tourism and agriculture

By Our Correspondent,Lekhnath, Nov. 30: The second edition of the Daai Festival was celebrated on Saturday in Pokhara with the aim of inspiring younger generations to embrace traditional agriculture while promoting tourism in the region.

The Pokhara Tourism Council, an umbrella organisation of tourism-related associations and institutions in Pokhara, organised the festival at Puranchaur in Pokhara Metropolitan City–19.

Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Dhanraj Acharya inaugurated the festival on Saturday morning at Churunga in Puranchaur, located in the lap of the Machhapuchchhre and Annapurna mountains.

“This festival has great symbolic importance. It will contribute to the protection of agriculture and farmers,” he said.

He expressed hope that the festival held in the foothills of the beautiful Himalayas would also help promote tourism.

The festival was attended by foreign tourists, locals, tourism entrepreneurs, and heads and representatives of various agriculture-related bodies.

Five pairs of bullocks were used to thresh paddy during the Daai Festival.

To boost the morale of local farmers, the best farmers who produced 500 muri, 100 muri, and 98 muri of paddy were honoured during the programme.

Locals enjoyed competitions such as best ox keeper, best rice producer, paddy threshing, straw bundle tying, and traditional mat (gundri) weaving.

Cash prizes were given to the winners, runners-up, and third-place finishers in the competitions.

Visitors also enjoyed traditional snacks and vegetables in the lap of the mountains. The festival, held to attract the younger generation to farming and uplift farmers’ morale, was supported by Pokhara Metropolitan City.

Festival coordinator Hari Bhujel said the festival should continue, as it is a unique event like the planting festival and draws tourist activity even during the off-season.