Nagpur: The 26th edition of Orange City Craft Mela will begin from Friday at South Central Zone Cultural Centre. The 10-day festival will have a bigger and better look this year in terms of participants and and selection of artistes and artisans.
Giving details of the festival to the media on Thursday, Deepak Khirwadkar, director of SCZCC, said, “This year 125 stall displaying art and handicrafts are being set up. More than then half of the them are national and state awardees. ”There will also be 30 food stalls serving food from different regions of India.
“The craft mela is a significant and much awaited event of the city and we are making all efforts to provide visitors an enjoyable experience,” Khirwadkar said while giving details of the decoration work underway. “This year our emphasis is also on cleanliness and garbage bins for wet and dry garbage will be placed all over the premises,” he added.
Folk dance presentations are a popular segment of the craft mela and this year 250 folk and tribal artistes will present different dance forms. “The performing art presentations will be held from 6.30pm onwards and for this the main stage has been designed aesthetically to look like a Rajasthani haveli,” Khirwadkar said. The main entrance gate of the centre is also being designed on the lines of front of a haveli and eco-friendly material is being used for making it.