DARJEELING,: The stage is all set for the 2nd edition of Darjeeling Melo Tea Fest to be held from December 19. Previously organized exclusively by Darjeeling Police, this year the event is being co-organized by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration as well.
Darjeeling SP Praween Prakash said: ““The program will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee virtually from Kolkata. The first day of the program will have a carnival organized by different organizations which will start from Chowk Baazar and end at Chowrasta. The carnival will showcase the different culture and tradition of people."
He informed that the first day will have solo singing and song writing competition which has seven contestants. There will also be performances by Mantra, a band from Darjeeling, and performance by Kee Marcello, who is a former guitarist of the band Europe.
According to the SP, the D-Rock event will have renowned artists performing at Chowrasta every day.
Kutumba, a Nepali fusion band from Nepal, will perform on December 20 followed by About Us, a rock band from Nagaland, the next day. The closing program will feature ‘Girish and The Chronicles’, a prominent band from Sikkim.
In the Western and Nepali Band competition, the Darjeeling SP informed that more than 200 nominations have been selected from different parts of the world and India. The competition has a prize pool of Rs. 19 lakhs.
The year, the festival will see the introduction of three tourism circuits.
The Adventure Circuit will focus on activities such as paragliding, river rafting, rock climbing, trekking, and hiking. In collaboration, Youth for Tourism and GTA Tourism will promote 13 different hikes in Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
Another circuit which is being introduced is the Bird Watching Circuit in areas like Latpanchar, Singalila and Sittong. The festival will try to promote these activities through an ecosystem of guides, homestays, and local taxi services.
Village Cultural Tourism is also being promoted where tourists can experience the ethnic and traditional aspects of Darjeeling in Doteriah where they can stay with local communities and learn about the tradition and culture of the people there. A Gorkhey Village is being set up there by the GTA from December 20.
Additionally, the festival will feature a short film competition, showcasing the talents of local youth involved in filmmaking and related fields. There have been 160 competitors nominated for it with one entry also having come in from Russia. This will be screened in Bhanu Bhawan.
The festival will conclude on December 22 with the 11 edition of the Darjeeling Hill Marathon with a prize pool of Rs. 29.8 lakhs.
"This time we have about 3,500 participants from not only different parts of India but also places like Kenya, Bhutan among other places," said the Darjeeling SP.
He further maintained that the 16 Development Boards of different communities would be putting up stalls throughout the festival to showcase their tradition, culture and cuisines.
Prakash stressed on the need of maintaining discipline by the crowd that would gather at Chowrasta while maintaining that safety precautions had been kept in place so that the program runs without a hindrance.
"Security measures have been put at place like police force and RAF to be deployed during the program. Along with that 100 CCTVs has also been put up with a drone to be kept for monitoring the crowd to lookout for trouble mongers. Similarly, two watch towers are also being made with spotlights for the same purpose," said Prakash.
"Though the programme is free, we have decided to allow only a certain number of people to enter Chowrasta on a first come basis as only a limited number of people that can fit in there," he said adding that they hope to get cooperation from people as they got in the last fest.