13th tourism festival begins in Bhedetar

By Kokila Bhandari, Dhankuta, January 1: The 13^th Industrial Exhibition, Food and Tourism Festival 2025 opened on Wednesday in Bhedetar, Dhankuta, with the purpose of promoting domestic products, tourism, and ethnic cuisines.

Organized by the Hotel Association of Bhedetar under the slogan ‘Our desire is to bring tourists closure to nature’, the festival began with a formal inauguration by Koshi Province Minister for Tourism, Forests and Environment Sadananda Mandal, accompanied by a range of programmes.

Organizers estimate that the festival will generate an economic turnover of around Rs. 2 crore, 5 lakh and attract about six thousand tourists during the festival period.

Contained in connection with Koshi Province Tourism Year 2025, the festival features industrial products manufactured in Dhankuta, local and ethnic foods, agricultural products, and tourism-related visual displays, said Jitendra Rumdali, Chairperson of Sangurigadhi Rural Municipality.

The food festival, held with the support of New Pathivara Club, Aama Samuha and Senior Citizens’ Society, offers a wide range of items including sekuwa, Madka Chiya (tea in clay -made- cup), bakery products, oranges and biscuits, Gen Z team momo, snacks, ring games, bubble tea and various sports entertainment along with various stalls. Cultural performances representing different ethnic communities also form part of the programme.

The festival that began on the 31^st  of December 2025, on the eve of  New Year, will continue until January 2.

While inaugurating the festival, Minister Mandal said that Bhedetar has already emerged as a main tourist destination and stressed the important role of Indian journalists in promoting tourism in the region. He urged Indian media professionals to support the promotion of local tourist destinations.

The minister also said that preparations have been accomplished to operate a night market and that the ministry has moved ahead with plans to construct an entrance gateway to Bhedetar.

The festival comprises agricultural exhibitions, ethnic traditional cuisines, handicrafts, and domestic industrial products, flowers and nurseries, traditional cultural displays, mountain biking, sky walk, paragliding, and cultural performances by local and national artists, along with various adventure tourism activities.

According to Chairperson Limbu, the festival aims to identify and promote religious, cultural and tourist sites in and around Bhedetar, thereby creating a favourable environment for tourism development. Limbu said the festival assists publicizing historical, religious, cultural, traditional and tourist sites that have long remained in the shadows. The venue hosts 15 stalls, including those attributing ethnic cuisines, organic food items and locally produced agricultural goods.

During the festival period, visitors can take part in activities such as Bhedetar–Dharan paragliding, rock climbing, canyoning at Namaste Waterfall, cycling, sunrise-view packages from Bhedetar View Tower, and boating at Rajarani Lake.

Organizers said that Indian tourists make up the largest share of foreign visitors to Bhedetar. As the New Year holidays in India coincide with the festival period, they expect the event to attract a significant number of Indian tourists.