By Kaipee Luther Newray, ewraykaipee@gmail.com
DEHRADUM, India-Thousands of Dehradun residents and guests from across India have been thrilled during the grand inauguration of the Virasat, Art and Heritage Festival 2022 in the City.
They gathered on Sunday evening, October 9, 2022 at the BR. Ambedkar Stadium for the Virasat.
The festival, which featured cuisines, craft workshops, traditional music, among other proceedings, is an annual event which happens between two major Hindi festivals namely Dussehra and Diwali.
Virasat, the famous Afro-Asia’s heritage and folk life festival was inaugurated at 6:30pm, by Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, who underscored the significant role of entertainment in society, empowerment of local businesses, and commended REACH for organizing the beautiful event.
It was followed by three fantastic cultural performances featuring Cholia, Kumaon, a marital and processional dance form Kumaon, Uttarakhand, Kathak Dance by Krishna Mohan and, Shehnai recital which was done by Ashwani and Sanjeev Shankar.
Today’s celebrations were full of colorful cultural diversity, where local artists from in and outside Dehradun were able to showcase their cultural heritage and talents through traditional dances and music.
The festival is being conducted by the Rural Entrepreneurship for Arts and Cultural Heritage (REACH), an organization that holds cultural events in Uttarakhand.