TURA: The Dimchrang Festival, 2018 – a rendezvous with culture – organised by the South West Garo Hills (SWGH) District Administration in collaboration with Ampati Arts & Cultural Society came to a close at Ampati ended on a high note with a rock concert on Thursday evening. Earlier on Wednesday morning a grand carnival comprising of tableaus and floats by various government departments, cultural clubs and educational institutions paraded around Ampati town to herald the beginning of the two-day festivity.
Speaking at the inaugural function, the Deputy Commissioner & Chairman of Ampati Arts & Cultural Society, Ramkumar S expressed his deep sense of appreciation to all the departments, agencies, NGOs & educational institutions for having been able to pack in a lot of events and activities in the festival through their coordinated efforts despite the paucity of time and resources. “If the people of the district continue to keep up this kind of unity and coordination, nothing can stop the district from moving towards the path of progress,” he said.
Citing examples of famous festivals in the region and elsewhere, he said that all such festivals made a humble beginning and likewise Dimchrang festival, which is being conducted on a humble scale, can slowly be built up as a brand exclusive to the district and put South West Garo Hills on a global map.
During the two-day festival, a series of events including Fashion Show to showcase attractive creations by SLRD under Union Ministry of Textiles as well as local designers, singing and dancing competitions, traditional cooking competition, tug-of-war, indigenous games, Healthy Baby Show, children’s sports, fashion show, essay writing and painting competitions were conducted which drew enthusiastic participation from all sections of the people.
Dimchrang Photo Competition was also organised for the officers of the district. People also thronged the 60 stalls that displayed products and food items by various line departments, agencies, small-scale entrepreneurs, NGOs and women SHGs as part of the festival.
However, the highlight of the festival was the Rock Show on both the evenings where the audience got to enjoy the performance of various rock bands from Garo Hills including Rough Road, Riprap, Black Jack, Olma Walsrip, Haystack Ladies, Straight Grooves, Wings of Life and singers like Saldorik, Jethro and many others.
The festival also hosted the Horticulture Mela for farmers organised by District Horticulture Office, District-level Industrial Exhibition organized by DCIC Ampati and the VECs’ Conference & Award Ceremony for innovative VECs in the implementation of MGNREGA. The conference was attended by VEC secretaries and members from the three blocks of the district.