By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 14 Oct: The Virasat Art and Heritage Festival 2024 will be held from 15 to 29 October at the Dr BR Ambedkar Stadium, Kaulagarh Road, here. The event will be inaugurated by Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj.
The festival is an energetic celebration of Indian and worldwide folk and classical music, dance, arts, crafts, and history, and is organised by Rural Entrepreneurship for Art and Cultural History (REACH).
At a press conference held, today, RK Singh, REACH Founder and General Secretary, shared details of the event. He emphasised, “Virasat is an annual cultural festival showcasing India’s rich artistic traditions and heritage. This year’s festival will provide a platform for artisans and craftspersons to present their folk and classical art forms, maintaining the essence of Indian culture.”
The 15-day festival will feature a diverse array of programmes. Highlights include heritage meditation sessions, in which young artists from schools and colleges in Dehradun will display their talents, and a craft workshop led by master artisans. Additionally, a vintage car and bike rally, a heritage quiz, a photography competition, and talks on music and literature by experts such as KL Pandey, Sohail Hashmi, and Arshiya Sethi will also draw attention.
Many folk and classical art forms from all over India will be featured in the performances, such as Odissi, dances from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the Chakravyuh of Uttarakhand, the cultural dances of Goa, and Qawwali. The event’s main attraction will be music programmes that will include performances of Ghazal, Sufi, and Carnatic music in addition to Hindustani and Carnatic classical music. Renowned performers such as Ragini Shankar, Songavarti Das, Rajendra Gangani, Avanindra Sheolikar, Malini Awasthi, Ruchira Kedar, Samanvay Sarkar, Pandit Sajan Mishra and Swaransh Mishra, Mohd Anwar Khan Qawwal, Shinjini Kulkarni, Omkar Dadarkar, Sanskriti and Prakriti Wahane, Pratibha Singh Baghel, Anol Chatterjee, Ronu Majumdar and Shashank Subramanyam, Jawad Ali Khan, Sufi singing by Wadalis, Praveen Godkhindi, Usman Mir, Abhishek Lahiri, Brian Silas, Mahesh Kale, Manjari Chaturvedi, Usha Uthup will perform at the festival.
Present at the press conference were RK Singh, General Secretary, Rural Entrepreneurship for Art and Cultural Heritage (REACH), Lokesh Ohri Director, Programme, Harish Awal, Trustee, Vijayashree Joshi, Joint Secretary, Sunil Verma, Director, Craft, Priyamvada Iyer, Media Incharge, Pradeep Maithal and other key officials of REACH.
