NEW DELHI, Oct 26 - Two mega events highlighting the art, culture, music, cinema and cuisine of the North East gets underway in the national capital here this weekend.
India International Centre�s annual festival, �The IIC Experience: A Festival of the Arts will be held from October 27-31. Meanwhile, the Sixth Edition of the North East Festival is scheduled on October 26-28 at IGNCA, Janpath.
This year�s IIC Festival, �Experiencing the North East�, seeks to focus on the cultural richness and diversity of Northeastern States. In collaboration with the North Eastern Council (NEC), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), IIC is planning to present the culture, creative arts and cuisine of all North Eastern States in a manner which moves away and beyond the conventional representation of the region.
There will be stalls put up by NEC and its partner organisations � NERAMAC, NEHHDC, NERCORM, CBTC, NERLP covering tourism, culture and cuisine. Artists from all the eight States will present traditional dance and music. Rock music by leading bands from the region and screening of documentary films daily are also scheduled.
The festival will be inaugurated by president, IIC, NN Vohra on Saturday, while the chief guest will be Minister of State, DoNER Dr Jitendra Singh. The inaugural performance is a concert presented by the wellknown Shillong Chamber Choir, conducted by Neil Nongkynrih. Other highlights include a concert by Moirang Sai and Lai Haraoba by Mangka Mayanglambam from Manipur; contemporary theatre production by Lapdiang Syiem from Meghalaya; a rock concert by Girish and the Chronicles from Sikkim; and Raas Leela from Manipur on the last day.
This year, the festival includes a day devoted to literature by presenting writers and poets from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland.
The film festival will present an Aribam Syam Sharma Retrospective, celebrating the wellknown film director�s contribution to Manipuri cinema and to Indian cinema as a whole with a screening of award-winning feature as well as documentary films. The filmmaker will be present during the festival to personally introduce and talk about his films. The film festival will also present New Cinematic Voices: A Festival of Films, screening of award-winning contemporary feature films from NE.
The cuisine will also be an integral part of the festival, featuring fusion food from NE prepared by Chefs Joel Basumatari and Imna Longkumer, traditional Meitei temple food of Manipur, traditional Khasi meal prepared by Davidson Shangpliang, Assamese food prepared by Utpala Mukherjee; and also Sikkimese food by Nimtho Restaurant and traditional Naga dinner.
The Sixth edition of the North East Festival will focus on several activities including large food festival, spectacular fashion shows, traditional sports, films, handloom and handicrafts, organic fruits and vegetables, colourful dance, dramas, etc.
Chief Organiser, Shyamkanu Mahanta has announced launching of �Juhaal�, the one-stop-shop online digital platform for kitchen needs.
On Saturday, a national seminar: �The Untruth, the half truth and the truth of NRC� has been organised, where NRC stakeholders of Assam, top intellectuals of Delhi and representatives of national media are scheduled to participate, informed Mahanta.
