Third Tikapur Literary Festival in March

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Feb. 9: The third edition of the Tikapur Literature Festival is scheduled for March 27-29.

The Tikapur Literature Society announced this at a press conference in Tikapur, Kailali. 

The slogan of the festival is 'Social Harmony through Literature'.

It is said that the third edition of the festival will be held as a special Tharu Literature and Cultural Festival. In Nepal, the Tharu community predominantly resides in districts such as Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, and Dang. The Tharu language, Tharu folk literature, and culture represent a distinct indigenous culture. 

The festival is being organised with the objective of preserving, promoting, and advancing the Tharu language and culture, recognising them as an integral part of Nepal's unique cultural tradition and identity.

"The festival aims to contribute to the preservation, promotion, and development of Tharu literature and culture," Mahesh Bikram Shah, founder coordinator of the Tikapur Literature Festival, said. 

"Our indigenous languages and original cultures must be developed as sources of identity and pride for communities," Shah, a Madan Prize winning writer, and coordinator of the festival, said. 

Linguist Madhav Prasad Pokharel, the creator of the alphabets of Nepali and more than 60 other languages, will be the key speaker in the festival. 

The festival will feature 21 discourse sessions, with seven sessions each day. In addition, scholars, experts, activists, researchers, and the general public from diverse fields, such as language, literature, art, culture, education, society, politics, and development, will engage in discourse.

It is informed that a series of pre-festival activities will be organised, such as staging of street theatre by playwright Ashesh Malla, a one-day writing workshop for students, a Tharu cultural evening and others. 

Besides, the festival will host the Sudurpaschim Poetry Festival for poets from Sudurpaschim Province. The Poetry Festival will award Rs. 15,000 to the first, Rs. 10,000 to the second, and Rs. 5,000 to the third, along with certificates. Two additional participants will receive certificates as consolation awards. 

On the second day, there will be a Ghazal recitation and a student cultural programme, while the third day will be dedicated to the Tharu Literature and Cultural Festival. 

To embody the festival's slogan 'Reach Tikapur by flying, driving, or sailing' and to promote tourism in the Tikapur region, participants will be taken on a river cruise along the Karnali River. In addition, a book exhibition will run throughout the festival.

According to the organisers, the Tikapur Literature Festival, being organised in collaboration with the Sudurpaschim Academy, will have the Sudurpaschim Provincial Government as its main promoter, while the Nepal Tourism Board will serve as a co-promoter.