From Our Correspondent
TURA: The District Administration of West Garo Hills together with the Tourism Department and NGOs of Tura is organizing the two-day Tura Winter Festival 2012 from January 23.
The festival will kickstart with a colourful Carnival showcasing the richness of culture and tradition of the region.
The Carnival will have participants from different localities of Tura and local clubs and NGOs of Tura. The Carnival will start off from New Tura Playground (Tura Law College) and culminate at Chandmary Playground, the main venue of the festival.
The carnival will be flagged off by Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma, who will also be attending the inaugural programme at Chandmary Playground.
Various other programmes and events are also slated for the inaugural day like the ethnic dances of the North Eastern Region. In the evening there will be an impressive presentation of ethnic fashion wear by local designers.
The festival will also be highlighting and showcasing the achievements of various line departments in the form of exhibition stalls which will be on display for both the days. The highlight of the exhibition would be live demonstration of the talent of artistes in the field of handicrafts, pottery, woodcraft, painting, and weaving etc.
Also there would be a photography exhibition which aims at displaying various facets of life of Tura town and other parts of Garo Hills as seen through the lenses of both professionals and amateurs.
The second day of the festival will start with the inter-locality traditional games and sports at Chandmary Playground. This will be followed by a fancy dress competition for kids aged 5 to 10 years at the same venue.
Another attraction of the day will be a Food and Wine Festival at DC’s Park from 11 am onwards. On display would be wine produced by local winemakers. Also available would be various local gastronomical delights and takeaways set in the ambience of local art displays and music.
In the evening there would be variety show showcasing the local talents comprising of traditional orchestra, flute and drums players, violin sisters duo, taekwondo display, traditional songs, brass band etc.
The grand finale of the festival will see performance by the Colours band from Shillong, followed by a fireworks display.