Food, fun & more: Kangra Valley Carnival gets off to colourful start

A grand ‘shobha yatra’ procession from the Kangra DC office to the Police Ground at Dharamsala marked the beginning of Kangra Valley Carnival today. Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar led the procession wearing the traditional ‘pagri’. Local artistes and drama troupes were seen in traditional attire, making the procession lively with songs, music and dance.

Chander Kumar congratulated the district administration for organising the event. He said such cultural programmes facilitated brotherhood and communal harmony besides strengthening the scope for tourism. Kumar inaugurated the Nutri-Cereal Food Festival organised by the Agriculture Department at the venue.

Eight self-help groups from different parts of the state publicised healthy diet through their stalls of dishes made from coarse grains. Kumar asserted that people in the state were being motivated by the government to cultivate coarse grains like ragi, millet, jowar, buckwheat, kangani and kodo. The minister visited stalls showcasing the art, craft and cuisines of the district and took a keen interest while interacting with the vendors.

There was craft market ‘Karu Krama’ organised by NIFT and exhibitions put up by various departments under canopies. Later in the evening, native artistes gave performances. The prime time was allocated to Maninder Buttar, popular Punjabi singer who was the star performer of the cultural night. Earlier Abhigya-The Band, Sunil Mastie, Dheeraj Sharma and native singers and musical groups entertained the public with their presentations.

DC Hemraj Bairwa, ADC Saurabh Jassal, ADM Harish Gajju, District Congress president Karan Pathania and a large number of people were present on the occasion. The weather in the town surprisingly turned sunny after a spell of torrential rain. The native residents attributed this miracle to Indrunag — the Rain God who was “approached” by the organisers before the event.