JORHAT, Jan 16 - The three-day 7th edition of �Ethnique� � Jorhat�s Own Annual Cultural Tourism Festival � came to a colourful finale with dance and song presentation by Bapi Saikia�s Rhythm of Dance School at Life Plus, Baghchung here.
The annual fiesta of the Institution for Culture and Rural Development (I-CARD), that started at 12 noon on January 5 continued with cultural dance, songs, street theatre, folktale presentation, fusion dance, modern dance and rituals upto 9 pm of January 7. The programme was coordinated by Lobo Doley.
Visitors streamed the almond grove campus right from the start till the end. The novelty of this year�s festival was the presence of Bodos from Kokrajhar and Adivasi dancers from Saikotta village of Jorhat. The vibrancy of the Adivasi troupe was matchless. They danced armed with heavy drums and traversed the entire 7-bigha festival venue.
Over 300 actors, singers, dancers and performers formed the background troupe of the event. In all, 16 mouth-watering dishes lined both sides of the almond grove pavement, which were in fact adaptations of Mising tribal cuisine. While the kitchen was managed by the staff and volunteers of I-CARD under the leadership of Lolima Doley, the cultural shows were directed by Puspalata Mili, I-CARD�s media director.
On January 6, a musical programme by Srimoyee of Jorhat was presented. The concluding event was presented by Gupit Pegu�s troupe from Guwahati, in addition to the Rhythm of Dance presentation.
�Set in a natural environment, the entire concept is unique and seems to give voice to the voiceless�, opined DM Neog, a visitor from Tinsukia. �I could not imagine that one single individual, in the person of Fr. Thomas, could bring to life such a gigantic event�, he said.
By the way, Fr. Thomas empowers school dropouts and unemployed youth to become changethmakers by organising Ethnique every year.
