The theme of the 9th edition of the popular Chandigarh National Crafts Mela last year was Dadra & Nagar Haveli and the 10th edition, to be held at Kalagram from November 9 to 18 this year, will be themed on the South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC) states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
Formally announcing the programme at a news conference here on Friday, North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) Director Prof. Saubhagya Vardhan and Cultural Affairs Director Chandigarh Administration Jitender Yadav said every effort is being made to increase the footfall of visitors from 2-3 lakh in the previous years and make foolproof arrangements for their safety, security, comfort and memorable experience.
Photos By : Life In Chandigarh
For this the Chandigarh Police will be using drones for aerial surveillance, water will be sprinkled on the grounds regularly to reduce dust pollution, parking area is being cleaned up and lighted up and more mobile toilets are being added for the convenience of visitors. As in previous years, special care has been taken to ensure that the cultural evenings have the best artists performing on stage and the special performers keep the visitors entertained throughout the day. A painters’ camp will be a permanent feature on all 10 days. There will be camel rides, ‘jhulas’ and joy rides. The food court, besides serving North Indian food, will also have cuisine from SCZCC states. The venue will be cleaned up every evening, they added.
There will be 170 odd stalls with artisans from nearly all states exhibiting their products. A dozen stalls have been earmarked for the Chandigarh Administration. A special stall will be dedicated to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary. The stall will showcase some rare pictures from the Mahatma’s life, the freedom struggle and other aspects of his journey.
Among the bands and individual artists performing at the cultural evenings will be the famous Bhopal based Sanskrit band ‘Dhruvaa’, which performs to laser lights, the all woman folk band Lasya wow womania, Gurdas Mann’s protégé Lal Chand Lala, Hans Raj Hans, Satinder Sartaj, Jazzy B, Lakhwinder Wadali, B Paraak, Sonu Virk, Kulwinder Billa, Ranjit Bawa, Anadi Misra and Manjeet Nikki.
Replying to a question, Jitender Yadav informed that a detailed project report has been sent to the Union Ministry of Culture to spruce up the Kalagram grounds by laying more tracks and increasing the greenery for a more enjoyable experience for visitors in the future. To this Saubhagya Sharma added that more mega events are being planned to be included in the existing calendar of events at Kalagram with a motive to keep it in a high state of upkeep and maintenance throughout the year and generate more revenues. There is also a plan to revamp the sculpture park at Kalagram to attract more visitors.
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The entry fee continues to be Rs. 30 per person, which is on the higher side, considering that the mela is being funded by the government. Going by the organisers’ own admission of an estimated footfall of 2-3 lakh in the previous years, which is sought to be increased, they will be collecting Rs 60-90 lakhs or more from the entry fee proceeds alone. Lifeinchandigarh.com feels that there’s definitely a case for reconsideration of the entry fee. The parking fee though can be hiked to encourage more people to use public transport.
He adds, “We would like to be a testimony of transformation in terms of festivals in the country. We have a variety of festivals, but there is none in the wellness space which holistically combines wellness with adventure and music. The Forest Escape Festival will fill that void. It’ll be one grand festival in the lap of Mother Nature.”
For the first time in the country, a festival is putting together an organic flea market that will offer authentic organic food products, recycled merchandises and clothes to its attendees. 
Considering the region’s penchant for good food, Starbucks is introducing two new food additions to its existing beverage menu to celebrate the flavours of the Chandigarh region. The Chicken Makhani Croissant Bun is a butterfly croissant bun layered with chicken and onions, perfected with makhani sauce and pickled mayo. For the vegans, there is Chole Masala Tortilla Wrap, which has chole wrapped in a tortilla with onions, jalapenos and spinach. The wrap is complimented with green chutney and mango murabba.
Commenting on the choice of Chandigarh, Ghosh said, “We are extremely excited to be in Chandigarh, which is the first non-metro city we have touched so far. The decision to come to the city was taken after receiving persistent feedback from customers belonging here at Starbucks stores in other cities that they sorely missed the coffee chain in their city. And, this is definitely not going to be the only outlet in Chandigarh. We will have many more as we go along.”
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Advocating that scientists need to generate ground level data with the help of organisations and individuals who work with communities, he said this was necessary to be able to identify and quickly tackle new viruses and new strains of old viruses which are posing new challenge before the scientific community. These grass root level operatives also need to be empowered, along with the communities in which they are working, for optimising outcomes of new initiatives, he opined. 
“About 25% of the entries in Empresario in the past have been from among participants of EAD, which underlines the impact of this unique initiative towards motivating young minds towards entrepreneurial thought and action. As many as 30,000 students from 158 colleges participated in EAD 2017, with 24 colleges in as many cities associating with us to conduct the EAD in their respective campuses. We look forward to even bigger numbers this year. During such drives, many colleges evinced interest in setting up entrepreneurship promoting bodies of their own for the benefit of their students.”
