Street food festival held in Budhanilkantha Municipality

By Sudha Mainali, Kathmandu, Jan 11: The three-day Budhanilkantha Street Food Festival held in collaboration between Budhanilkantha Municipality and the Budhanilkantha Tourism Board to promote cultural identity, prosperity and religious sites along with the publicity of tourism concluded today.

 The festival drew many visitors as it showcased delicious local flavors, culture, and enhanced community engagement.

Mayor of Budhanilkantha Municipality stated the festival facilitated encouraging local entrepreneurship and created opportunities for residents enhancing Budhanilkantha Municipality as an internal and external tourists’ destination.

Students (center, similar dress) of Kapan campus pose for a group photo after they perform dance at the inaugural of the Budhanilkantha street food festival. 

In this regard, special guests and a popular artist Haribamsa Acharya appealed to the mass to close the kitchen for three days and enjoy the street food festival but remember to clean the streets like your home.

Similarly, Anita Lama, Deputy Mayor of Budhanilkantha Municipality asserted the festival highlighted the cultural identity of community, language and ethnicity. She further added the festival helped strengthen and develop community solidarity, unity, traditional culture, and economic prosperity.

According to the Chief Administrative Officer of the Budhanilkantha Municipality, Ajay Bartaula, the festival  created the publicity of local cuisine, support entrepreneurship, and boosted domestic tourism of Budhanilkantha. Shanta Dhakal, a member of the Budhanilkantha Municipal Council, stated that the festival empowered women entrepreneurs encompassing their skills and products with market.

Customers were satisfied with the services of entrepreneur’s among 55 stalls. Four BBA students of the first semester of Kapan Campus, stall No. 31, expressed that the festival has assisted them to gain a big entrepreneurship exposure and grow as entrepreneurs in Nepal.

Renowned artist Haribansha Acharya making babar (fried bread) during the street food festival in Budhanilkantha. 

The festival publicized local cuisine taste, historical and religious sites of the municipality along with Shivpuri National Park. The organizers and concerned stakeholders declared they would plan to continue the street food festival as an annual event, expanding its scale and duration in the coming years.