Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik opened the 2nd edition of .FEST on Sunday for an evening of fun filled extravaganza. The first day of the festival of festivals witnessed a thrilling line up of curtain raiser music and dance performances; with some of the most popular celebrities gracing the event.
The cultural festival brings an experience like never-before for the people of Odisha with oodles of Fun, Food, Entertainment, Stories or Trails packed from 15th to 29th January 2023.
Chief Minister Shri Patnaik said “This is a moment of glory for Odisha, we are here experiencing an ecstatic evening of honor. The India and the world is present in Odisha, and let us celebrate with all our hearts and minds together. Bhubaneswar is immensely honored to host the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup tournament for the second consecutive time, where people from 16 nations and across the globe are coming here to enjoy every bit of our city”.
Ashok Panda, Minister, Science & Technology, Usha Devi, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Sulochana Das, BMC Mayor, Ananta Narayan Jena, MLA, Susanta Kumar Rout MLA graced the occasion.
Pradeep Kumar Jena, Development Commissioner, Balwant Singh, Vice-Chairman, BDA, and Vijay Amruta Kulange, Commissioner, BMC joined the ceremony.
Shri Singh, Vice Chairman BDA and Managing Director OMC has been instrumental in organizing a massive show of .FEST, which was having electrifying effect on the audience.
BDA and OMC as well as Smart City Bhubaneswar joined hands to make this ceremony a grand success, thanks to sincere efforts of Shri Singh.
The tone was set for the evening as the event got off to a great start with performances from Disha Patani, Guru Randhawa and Black Swan bringing electrifying magic to the stage.
One of the most anticipated events of the day was the international food festival showcasing global cuisines from 16 participating countries in FIH hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
With visitors both young and elderly delighting on popular cuisines from various states of India and relishing on delicacies from Odisha. As part of the cultural extravaganza, the Night Bazaar, Flea Market brightened up Bhubaneswar’s winter nights and provided a remarkable stage for regional artists, start-ups, performers, makers, and creators to showcase their products. The Flea Market set up with an aim to promote the handloom and handicrafts of Odisha, turned out to be a spectacular crowd puller with more than 120 plus home-grown products at display, making it a shopping fiesta for the visitors.
The distinguishing feature of the .FEST has been Sebbe-Au-Ebbe (Then & Now), a photo exhibition that showcased the glorious urban/ city history of Bhubaneswar, one of the 1st Planned cities of Independent India, along with the first of its kind uniquely curated experiential trails around the city of Bhubaneswar, additionally offering visitors to experience the Bhubaneswar Festival of Storytelling (BhuFesSto) specifically curated for the children along with elderly to keep alive the great saga of local literature, poetry & stories.
Providing the experience of a fortnight long festival of festivals, .FEST was first curated in 2018. The previous edition of .FEST witnessed a massive success with millions of Bhubaneswar locals & others from around the world including the best hockey players along with International and national media. This year, the visitors can experience trails around the city of Bhubaneswar, visitors can also experience the Bhubaneswar Festival of Storytelling (BhuFeSto) specifically curated for the children along with elderly to keep alive the great saga of local literature, poetry & stories.
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